BY

WILLARD GROSVENOR BLEYER, Ph.D.

CHAIRMAN OF THE COURSE IN JOURNALISM, AND
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

BOSTON  NEW YORK  CHICAGO  SAN FRANCISCO

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

The Riverside Press Cambridge

COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY WILLARD GROSVENOR BLEYER

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.

TO
A. H. B.

Seven years’ experience in trying to train college students in methods of newspaper writing and editing has convinced the author of the need of text-books in journalism. Newspapers themselves supply the student with so miscellaneous a collection of good, bad, and mediocre work that, with an uncritical taste, he does not always discriminate in the character of the models which he selects to imitate. Lectures by experienced editors and writers, although fruitful of much inspiration and general information, seldom give the student sufficiently specific and detailed directions to guide him in his daily work. What he needs is a handbook containing typical examples of all of the kinds of newspaper work that he is likely to be called upon to do during the first years of his newspaper experience. These examples should be carefully selected from well-edited newspapers and should be analyzed to show the fundamental principles that underlie their construction. With such a book illustrative of current practices in newspaper making, he can study more intelligently the newspapers themselves and can assimilate more completely the advice and information given by newspaper men in active service. Furthermore, such a book, by giving specific suggestions with examples of their application, serves as a guide to aid the student in overcoming his difficulties as he does his work from day to day. It is to furnish a handbook and guide of this kind that the present text-book has been prepared.

This book is adapted both for use in college classes in journalism and for study by persons interested in[Pg vi] journalism who are not attending college. The needs of these two groups are not essentially different. Both desire to know the basic principles of newspaper writing and editing and to get the necessary training in the application of these fundamental principles to their own work. In each chapter, accordingly, explanation and exemplification are supplemented by material for practice work.

To formulate a large number of rules for the writing of news stories, the editing of copy, the writing of headlines, and other kinds of newspaper work, is plainly impossible, even if it were desirable. Methods of newspaper making during the last fifty years have undergone so constant and rapid a readjustment to new conditions in the transmission of news, in mechanical production, and in the sources of income, that only a few traditions have remained unchanged. The tireless effort to secure novelty and variety in present-day journalism prevents the news story or the headline from becoming absolutely fixed in form or style. Instead of attempting to formulate dogmatic rules and directions, the author has undertaken to analyze current methods of newspaper work with the purpose of showing the reasons for them and the causes which have produced them. The examples selected to illustrate these methods have been taken from newspapers in all parts of the country and are intended to represent the general practices now prevailing. For obvious reasons names and addresses in most of these stories have been changed. To retain the newspaper form as far as possible, the examples have been printed between rules in column width.

Inasmuch as this book is intended to prepare the student for the kind of work which he is likely to do during the first years of his newspaper experience, it does not consider editorial writing, book-reviewing, or musical[Pg vii] and dramatic criticism. To discuss these subjects adequately would require more space than a handbook on reporting and editing permits.

It is assumed throughout this book that the student of journalism is familiar with the elementary principles of grammar and rhetoric, and has had sufficient training in composition to be able to express ideas in simple, correct English. Faults in such rudimentary matters as grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are not considered at all. No attention is given to diction or questions of good usage. All these matters are fully treated in numerous books on English composition.

In the discussion of the news story, an emphasis has been given to the “lead” that may seem disproportionate. This has been done in the belief that the rapidity with which newspapers are generally read makes the beginning the most important part of the story. The average reader gleans the significant facts of each piece of news from the headlines and the first paragraphs. He expects in the “lead” the “feature” as well as the gist of the news. To the student this problem of massing skillfully, in a compact and interesting form, the substance of his material, is a new one, and he must be shown all the varied possibilities of this treatment. The author has not been unmindful of the fact that efforts are being made to break away from the “gist-of-the-news” beginning, and has given examples of other forms. For stories in which entertainment rather than information is the purpose, beginnings that do not summarize may undoubtedly be used to advantage. In such stories the student must be shown how to arouse the reader’s interest and curiosity in the first sentences so that he will read further.

The function of the newspaper has been discussed at[Pg viii] some length in order to call the student’s attention to the importance of the newspaper as an influence in a democratic government and to point out the significance of his own work in relation to society. An effort has been made to analyze the problems of newspaper making in order to show the fundamental issues involved. The purpose has been, not to settle these questions dogmatically, but to stimulate the student to think for himself.

“Newspaper English” has so long been regarded by many teachers of English as a term of reproach, and instruction in journalistic writing has been so recently introduced into the college curriculum, that some English instructors still question the value of systematic training of students in newspaper writing as a part of the teaching of English composition. Nevertheless, every teacher of English in the secondary schools and colleges recognizes the fact that one of the most serious weaknesses of present-day training in composition is the lack of a definite aim for the student in his writing, and a corresponding lack of interest on his part in doing work that has no real purpose. To report actual events for publication, either in a local newspaper or in a school paper, gives the student both material and purpose, and to that extent increases his interest and his desire to write well. If the application of the principles of English composition to newspaper writing and editing can be demonstrated to the student, as the author has attempted to do in this book, the student can undoubtedly be given valuable practice in these principles through systematic training in newspaper work.

“Every professor of journalism must write a textbook on journalism in order to justify his claim to his title,” was the facetious remark made at the first Conference of Teachers of Journalism. Until journalism[Pg ix] has been taught in colleges and universities long enough to have developed generally accepted methods of instruction, the text-book produced by every teacher of the subject must be regarded, not as a demonstration of his claims to the title, but as a contribution to the development of methods of teaching based on his own experience. If this book is of assistance to those who aspire to become newspaper workers or to those who are undertaking to train students of journalism, it will have accomplished its purpose.

The author is indebted to the publishers of Collier’s Weekly, of the American Magazine, and of the Independent for permission to reprint material from these magazines. Acknowledgment is also due to the many newspapers throughout the country from which examples have been taken and to which due credit has been given whenever the “stories” thus reproduced have been important or distinctive in character.

The facsimile newspaper headings reproduced in this book represent styles of type used in newspaper offices throughout the country. These specimens are included by courtesy of the Mergenthaler Linotype Company of New York.

University of Wisconsin,
Madison, March 3, 1913.

CHAPTER I

HOW A NEWSPAPER IS MADE

Newspaper Production. To furnish for a cent or two a fairly complete record of important events that take place in any corner of the world, editorial comment, market quotations, reviews of new books, critiques of plays and concerts, fashion hints, cooking recipes, cartoons, and illustrations, as well as advertisements of all kinds, would seem a stupendous, not to say impossible, task if it were not an everyday phenomenon. A single copy of a daily newspaper in a large city contains, exclusive of advertising, from 60,000 to 80,000 words, or as many as does the average novel. These metropolitan papers print from 100,000 to 900,000 copies each day, numbers far in excess of the editions of most successful novels. While it takes the novelist months to produce his work, and his publishers months to print it, the newspaper is made and printed in from one to ten editions within twenty-four hours.

The successful achievement of such an undertaking, day by day, requires extensive equipment and effective organization. The rapid production of a large edition demands many expensive machines to transform written matter quickly into type, and huge presses to print the papers at the highest speed. Furthermore, it makes necessary a large staff to gather and prepare news and[Pg 2] other reading matter, a large force to put this material into type, to print it, and to distribute the papers, besides managers and clerks to carry on the many business transactions involved in so big an enterprise.

Newspaper Organization. Although in its main divisions the organization of newspaper publishing is essentially the same, the size of a paper determines to a considerable extent the number of employees and the degree of division of labor among them, as well as the character and the extent of the equipment. On large papers where many men are employed and many editions are printed daily, there needs must be considerable specialization in editing and reporting; while on small papers the size of the staff requires that each man perform a variety of tasks. Sometimes conditions of ownership or control, and on older papers office traditions, modify the usual duties and authority of different members of the staff.

No one form of organization that can be described in detail, therefore, will apply to all newspaper offices even when they are of the same relative size, but a composite type of organization for large newspapers may be explained to show the division of work.

Newspaper publishing consists of three distinct parts with three entirely different classes of workers: (1) the business management, (2) the mechanical force, (3) the editorial staff.

The Business Management. The business organization, as its name implies, has charge of the commercial side of newspaper publishing. From the financial point of view the purpose of the newspaper is to make enough money to maintain the paper and to pay dividends to the stockholders. The object of the business department is to sell as much advertising space and as many copies of each issue as it possibly can; and, on[Pg 3] the other hand, to pay out for wages and expenses only so much as is necessary to keep the paper up to a standard that will insure a good circulation and enough advertising. In short, a newspaper company, regarded purely in the light of a business enterprise, is not essentially different from any manufacturing company that produces and sells a commodity.

The business department is organized with a business manager at its head, who has complete control of the finances of the paper, subject, of course, to the owner or board of directors of the company. Under him are: (1) the circulation manager, (2) the advertising manager, (3) the cashier. The circulation manager directs the work of subscription canvassers, the drivers and the assistants on the paper’s distributing wagons, the mailing clerks and helpers, and a force of office clerks and bookkeepers. In the advertising department are the advertising solicitors and the office clerks and bookkeepers. The cashier has assistants and a bookkeeper to aid him. The business office of the newspaper is frequently referred to as the “counting room.”

The Mechanical Force. The mechanical side of newspaper making is divided into three relatively distinct departments: (1) the composing room, where, under the direction of a foreman and a copy-cutter, the type is set up by compositors or is cast in linotype or monotype machines by operators, and where the type is arranged by make-up men in pages as it is to appear in print; (2) the stereotyping room, where these pages of type are used to make molds into which lead plates are cast by stereotypers under the direction of the foreman of the room; (3) the press-room, where the papers are printed, in charge of a superintendent with pressmen and machinists as his assistants. Attached to the composing room is the proof-reading department with[Pg 4] a head proof-reader, several assistant readers, and as many copy-holders who read aloud the copy for the proof which is to be corrected.

The Editorial Staff. The writing and editing of a newspaper, with which this book is particularly concerned, is divided into two distinct parts: (1) the gathering, the writing, and the editing of the news; and (2) the interpreting of the news. The two branches are different in the kind of work involved, and are relatively independent in the organization of the office. To present clear, concise, accurate, timely, and interesting reports, or “stories” as they are called, of everything that is going on in the world of sufficient importance to be of interest to any considerable number of readers, is the aim of the news department. The more quickly, the more attractively, the more completely the news can be presented, the greater is considered the success of the newspaper from the point of view of the news staff. The editorials of a newspaper attempt to interpret and to explain the news, or to make the news the basis of argument upon issues growing out of questions of the day. The attitude taken by a newspaper on the questions at issue is determined by what is known as its “editorial policy.”

The editor-in-chief, under whom are one or more editorial writers, has charge of the editorial columns and determines the editorial policy, subject to whatever control of this policy the owner or directors desire to exercise. The editorial writers and the editor-in-chief confer daily to consider the attitude that the paper shall take in its editorials and to divide the work of writing them. Some of the editorials are written by men in other professions who are not on the regular staff, and often by such members of the news staff as the financial editor or the dramatic critic. Most of[Pg 5] the editorials, however, are the work of the editorial writers.

The news staff is in charge of the managing editor, who is usually responsible directly to the owner or the directors. As aids the managing editor has the assistant managing editor, and the news editor, or the night editor, to take charge of “making up” the newspaper The gathering and writing of local news is in charge of the city editor and the night city editor, with an assistant city editor. The news of the state, the nation, and the world, as it comes by mail, telegraph, and telephone, is under the control of the telegraph editor. The city editor directs the reporters; the telegraph editor the correspondents. Particular kinds of news are collected and edited by persons in especially designated positions, such as the sporting editor, the society editor, the financial and market editor, the dramatic and musical editor, the real estate editor, the railroad editor, the marine editor, the labor editor, all of whom usually work under the direction of the managing editor. The special magazine sections of the Saturday or the Sunday issues are in charge of the magazine, or Sunday, editor. An exchange editor goes over all the newspapers received in exchange to clip and edit material worth reprinting. Cartoonists, artists, and photographers supply the materials for newspaper illustrations, or “cuts,” as they are called. A librarian has charge of the reference books and newspaper files, as well as of the collection of biographical sketches and portraits of prominent people known as the “morgue.”

All of the manuscript, or “copy,” is edited and is supplied with headlines at the copy desk in charge of a head copy-reader with a number of copy-readers as assistants. “Rewrite men” are often employed to take the facts of a story from another newspaper and rewrite them, or to[Pg 6] receive material over the telephone from reporters and correspondents and write it up for publication. Unsatisfactory work of a reporter may be turned over to a rewrite man to be put in the desired form, for rewrite men must be able to take the raw material of the news furnished by others and turn it into a well-written news story.

Getting News into Print. The relation of all these departments to one another is best shown by following through the process by which a piece of news gets into print. The telegraph editor on a newspaper in the capital city of the state, for example, gets from an office telegraph operator, a typewritten dispatch signed by the paper’s correspondent in a city of a neighboring state to the effect that the attorney-general has dropped dead in the lobby of a hotel. The telegraph editor at once notifies the city editor so that he may assign reporters to get the local phases of the piece of news, or “to cover the local end of the story,” as the newspaper workers say. One reporter is sent to interview the members of the late attorney-general’s family; another is dispatched to the governor’s office for an interview with the governor on the deceased official; a third is asked to look up the statute concerning such an unexpected vacancy in the office; a fourth is assigned to find out the probable successor to the position.

After informing the city editor and the managing editor, the telegraph editor at once turns over the dispatch to the head copy-reader to have it edited and to have a headline written. Meanwhile one of the rewrite men is delegated to get a biographical sketch of the attorney-general from the office “morgue” and to write an obituary. The artist looks up the half-tone engraving, or “cut,” of the official in the “morgue” and selects an appropriate border or “frame” in which to[Pg 7] put it. The editor-in-chief is informed of the attorney-general’s death so that he may make appropriate editorial comment. Meanwhile the telegraph editor has sent a telegram to the correspondent who furnished the first news of the event instructing him to “wire” five hundred words more giving all the particulars.

When the dispatch has been edited and a headline written by one of the copy-readers, the latter returns it to the head copy-reader, who glances over it and sends it in a pneumatic tube to the composing room. The tube delivers it at the copy-cutter’s desk. The copy-cutter glances at the sheet with the headline for the story, and then at the two pages of copy. The headline he sends by the copy distributor to the headline machine to be set up. The two pages of copy he cuts into three pieces or “takes” so that the story may be set up on three different linotype machines. If the copy of the whole story were given to one machine operator, it would take three times as long to get it into type.

Meanwhile some of the reporters have returned from their assignments. Each one reports what he has found to the city editor, and is told how long a story to write, and possibly what to emphasize in the beginning, or “lead.” As each story is finished it is turned over to the city editor, who glances over it and passes it on to the head copy-reader. Thence it goes through the same course as the first dispatch.

After the copy of the dispatch has been set up in type, it is taken to a small hand press, and several impressions called “galley proofs,” or “proofs,” are printed, or “pulled,” from the type. One of the proofs, with the original copy, goes to the proof-room to be compared with the copy and carefully corrected by the proof-readers. Another proof-sheet is sent to the managing editor, who is responsible for everything that[Pg 8] goes into the paper; a third proof is delivered to the news editor who arranges, or “makes up,” the news stories on each page of the paper before it is printed. After the proof-readers have corrected the proof, and the editors have made any necessary changes in it, the proof-sheets are returned to the operators so that they may make the necessary alterations by resetting whatever is changed. From the type thus corrected a second set of proofs, called the “revise,” is printed and these are distributed to the editors as the first were. The type is then ready to be used in the process of printing the paper.

Half an hour or more before an edition is to be printed, the news editor gathers the proofs of the news stories that are to be put into that edition, and goes to the composing room to arrange this news on the several pages. The importance of the news of the attorney-general’s death would warrant its being given a prominent place on the first page. The most prominent position is the right-hand outside column. If there is no news of greater importance, the news editor directs the “make-up” men in the composing room to put the type of this story in the outside column of the first page “form.” The “form” consists of a “chase,” or steel frame, somewhat larger in inside dimensions than the page as it appears when printed. Into this “chase,” which rests upon a smooth iron-top table, the type is arranged between the brass or lead column rules which make the lines between the columns of type. The advertisements are placed in the forms under the direction of the advertising department just as the news matter is put in under the direction of the news editor, the page and position on the page usually having been stipulated by the advertiser in making a contract for a certain “position” for his “ad.” When each page is filled with[Pg 9] type, the whole page is “locked” in the “form” by a series of screws or wedges (called “quoins”), so that the form may be handled without letting the type drop out. If the type falls out and gets mixed up, it is said to be “pied,” and the mixture is called “pi.”

The forms, after being locked, are taken to the stereotyping room where a paper mold, or matrix, commonly called a “mat,” is made of each page. These matrices, bent in semicircular form, are placed in a casting box into which molten lead is poured to make the semicircular lead plates to be used in printing. In large offices the casting of these plates is done by placing the matrix in an automatic stereotyping machine, known as the autoplate, which turns out completed plates in less than a minute. After the plates have been trimmed and planed on the back to make them exactly the right thickness, they are ready to be put on the press.

These semicircular lead plates, which are thus cast in exact reproduction of the page forms of type, are fastened on the cylinders of the press. As the cylinders revolve, ink rollers touch the surface of the plates and ink the projecting letters. The paper from a large roll, as it passes between the cylinders and the blanket rolls which press the paper against the inked plates on the cylinders, takes up the ink and thus has printed on it the impression of the page of type. Besides printing the pages, the press cuts, folds, and counts the papers so that the complete newspaper comes from the press ready for sale or delivery.

As soon as the newspapers are printed, they are turned over to the circulation department for distribution. Some copies go to the mailing room to be labeled with little orange-colored address slips and to be put into the mail sacks, in which they are taken to the post[Pg 10] office or mail trains. Other copies are sold to waiting newsboys, and still others are taken in the company’s wagon to news stands and carriers all over the city.

Despite the number and variety of these details in the process of newspaper making, the news of the death of the attorney-general would reach the readers in a comparatively short time after the event occurred. In half an hour from the time the last piece of copy is written, a complete newspaper containing it is printed and ready for distribution.

Speed of Production. The invention and the perfection of various mechanical devices used in newspaper making have made possible this great speed. In the front rank of ingenious pieces of machinery that have added greatly to rapidity in newspaper publishing stands the linotype. This machine, which casts solid lines of type, or “slugs” as they are called, has increased four-fold the speed of production and has made possible much larger editions. The monotype, which casts each type separately, has also proved a valuable addition to the means of turning “copy” into type quickly. For the casting of semicircular stereotype plates the autoplate machine is an important time-saving device. The time required for “running off” an edition is now reduced from two- to five-fold by making duplicate sets of these stereotype plates and by putting them on from two to five large presses so that these presses print the same edition simultaneously.

Improvements in newspaper-printing machinery have resulted in huge presses that take paper from large rolls and turn out completed newspapers printed in one or two colors, cut, folded, and counted, ready for distribution. They can be adjusted to print papers from four to forty-eight pages in size, and can produce[Pg 11] twelve-page papers at the rate of 144,000 copies an hour. Magazine sections and “comics” are printed in four colors, usually yellow, red, blue, and black, on large presses under conditions practically the same as those just described.

In order to insert the latest news without taking the time necessary to make up new forms, prepare new matrices, and cast new stereotype plates, a device called the “fudge” is employed. After the first page form of a late edition has been used to make a matrix, about six inches of type is taken out from two columns in the lower left hand corner or the upper right hand corner of the page, and a new matrix and a stereotype plate are made in which this corner is a blank. This new plate with the blank space is then put on the press in place of the regular first page plate. As fast as late news is received, it is set up on linotype lines, or “slugs,” and these lines are clamped on a small cylinder in the press. When the paper runs through the press, these linotype lines on the cylinder are printed, often in red ink, in the space on the front page left unprinted by the blank in the plate. To save more time with this device, a telegraph wire is run to the press room and a linotype machine is installed beside it, so that the latest news can be cast on linotype “slugs” and put on the “fudge” cylinder as fast as the reports are received by telegraph. Results of baseball games, races, and other sporting events can be printed to advantage by means of the “fudge.”

Recently a mailing machine has been introduced that folds, wraps, and addresses each copy separately as fast as papers are fed into it.

In no other process of manufacture that is as complicated as newspaper making, it is safe to say, has equal speed of production been attained.

[Pg 12]

Handling a Big Story. The scene in a metropolitan newspaper office following the receipt of the first news of the “Titanic” disaster, as graphically portrayed by an editor of a New York morning paper, illustrates the conditions under which important news, received late, is hurried into print.[1] The account in part is as follows:

[Pg 16]

SUGGESTIONS

1. Find out all that you can about the organization of the paper on which you are employed.
2. Know the names, at least, of the heads of all the departments.
3. Learn as much as possible about advertising and subscription rates and methods.
4. Familiarize yourself with the details of all the mechanical processes connected with newspaper making.
5. Interest yourself in the welfare of the paper as if it were your own property.

NEWS AND NEWS VALUES

Problems of the News. As news is the sine qua non of the newspaper, the problem of newspaper making resolves itself into the three questions: What is news? Where and how is news to be obtained? and, How is news to be presented to the reader? The first question involves the definition of news and the determination of its value, the second concerns the gathering of news, and the third has to do with structure and style in the writing of news.

What is News? Although every good newspaper worker recognizes news at once, and almost instinctively decides upon its value, most of them find it difficult to express in brief form what news is and what determines its value. In a symposium recently conducted by an American magazine,[2] a number of editors throughout the country undertook to define news, giving the following definitions:—

[Pg 18]

The essentials of news, as brought out by these definitions are: (1) that it must be of interest to the readers; (2) that it includes anything and everything that has any such interest; and, (3) that it must be new, current, timely. Furthermore, these definitions emphasize the fact that the value of news is determined (1) by the number of people that it interests, and (2) by the extent to which it interests them. The composite of these definitions, therefore, would be: News is anything timely that interests a number of people; and the best news is that which has the greatest interest for the greatest number.

By the application of these tests to each event, idea, or activity, the reporter can determine for himself what is news and what is not, as well as what value a piece of news possesses. He must ask himself concerning each piece of news that he gets: “Is it new and timely?” “How many readers will it interest?” “Has it great interest for a large number?”

Many times an incident seems, at first glance, to possess little that will interest, but, on closer examination, reveals some phase that is of considerable news value. Keen observation and insight to see the significant aspect of a person, an event, an idea, often leads[Pg 19] to the discovery of news that may escape the notice of less acute observers. The reporter must find for himself those aspects of the day’s events which are of the greatest interest to the greatest number.

Timeliness in News. Freshness, timeliness, newness is one vital qualification for all news. “Yesterday” has almost ceased to exist for the newspaper man. Even “to-day” has become “this morning,” “this noon,” “this afternoon.” “Up to date” has given way to “up to the minute.” Improved mechanical equipment, which makes possible lightning speed in turning news stories into a complete newspaper in less than half an hour, has made possible a degree of freshness in the news that would seem marvelous were it not a daily, in fact, almost an hourly phenomenon. Competition among newspapers, and the publication of frequent editions, increase the necessity for the latest news. The reporter must catch this spirit of getting the news while it is news, and of getting it into print before it loses its freshness.

What Interests Readers. How general will be the interest in any activity, idea, or event is determined by what the average person likes to hear, read, or see. Whatever gives him pleasure or satisfaction, interests him. Consideration of the fundamental bases of news values, therefore, involves a determination of the general classes of things that give pleasure and satisfaction to the average individual.

The Extraordinary. The unusual, the extraordinary, the curious, wherever found, attracts attention and is interesting because it is a departure from the normal order of life. Humdrum routine whets the appetite for every break in the monotony of regularity. So long as the daily life of the average man conforms to the generally accepted business and social standards[Pg 20] and is not affected by any unusual circumstances, it has little interest for his fellow men. As soon as he violates the usual order, or is the victim of such violation, his departure from the level of conformity becomes a matter of greater or less interest according to the extent of the departure. Because hundreds of thousands of bank employees are honest, the dishonesty of one of them is news. So all crime, as a violation of established law and order, is news, unless, as unfortunately is sometimes the case, it becomes common enough to cease to be unusual. Every notable achievement in any field of activity, because it rises above the level, is news. A record aeroplane flight, an heroic action, the discovery of a new serum, the invention of a labor-saving device, the finding of remains of a buried city, the completion of a great bridge,—all are sufficiently out of the ordinary to attract attention. Accidents and unexpected occurrences, because they break in upon the usual course of events, are matters of news. The thousands of trains that reach their destination safely are as nothing compared to one that jumps the track. Millions of dollars’ worth of property that remains unharmed from day to day does not interest the average man, but the loss of some of it by fire, wind, or flood immediately lifts the part affected out of the mass and gives it interest to hundreds of persons in no way concerned in the loss. It is not the crimes and misfortunes of others that give the reader pleasure; it is the fact that these are departures from the normal course that makes them satisfy his desire for something different from the usual round of life.

In almost every event the good newspaper man can find something that is out of the ordinary, and by giving due emphasis to this unusual phase can give interest to what might otherwise seem commonplace. What that[Pg 21] something will be is determined by the reporter’s or the editor’s appreciation of what will appeal to the average reader as the most marked departure from the customary and the expected. If, as in a recent accident, the front trucks of a trolley car jump the track and upset a baby carriage, throwing out the baby; and if the baby alights unharmed on a pillow that was tossed out of the carriage by the collision, such peculiar circumstances the reporter knows will appeal to most readers as the interesting feature of the accident. That a sneak thief should be caught as he was escaping from a house with a few dollars’ worth of plunder, will attract the average reader much less than the fact that he jumped through a plate-glass window in his effort to escape, or that he gained access to the house by wearing a Salvation Army uniform, or that he carried away a pie as part of his booty. How a man lost a purse containing $50 is scarcely worthy of notice, but how, while looking for his purse, he found a diamond ring, is strange enough to make good reading. A lecture at an agricultural society meeting on the advantages to the farmers of the state of raising barley would not ordinarily be considered of much interest to city readers, but an interruption of the lecture by an advocate of prohibition with the charge that to urge barley growing is to aid the brewing interests, might make a good news story. The character and the extent of the departure from the usual, considered from the point of view of most of the readers, measure the news value of any phase of an event that is out of the ordinary.

Struggles for Supremacy. Struggles for supremacy, also, have an almost universal appeal. Competition in business, contest in sport, rivalry in politics, are based on the love of fighting to win. Strikes and lockouts, as part of the contest between labor and capital,[Pg 22] appeal to this interest. So does the fight to secure control or monopoly in any part of the commercial field. The enthusiasm manifested over baseball, football, boxing, racing, and other sports grows out of the love of contest for supremacy. In political warfare the interest of many is largely in the struggle for victory, with the power that victory brings, rather than any results that will affect the individual directly. Accounts of all these forms of fighting to win make good news stories.

“Human Interest.” The fellow feeling that makes all the world akin, the sympathy that binds together men who have little in common, is the basis of interest which we have in the actions, thoughts, and feelings of others. The “human interest” which newspaper and magazine editors demand, involves emphasis on the personal element in the affairs of life. The characters that appear in news stories, fiction, or special articles must be made to appeal to the readers as real flesh and blood men and women. The human side of events is what the average reader wants. How one man is saved by a new serum is read with more attention than is a discussion of the therapeutic value of the serum. The privations of an arctic explorer in reaching the pole have almost as much interest for most readers as the discovery of the pole itself. The experiences of strikers and their families are read by many who know little and care less about the economic conditions that produce the strike. So vitally do we feel ourselves concerned with the fate of our fellow men, even when we do not know them personally, that accounts of human life lost or endangered are read with great eagerness. “Many lives lost!” is the cry that the newsboy knows will sell the most papers. From the point of view of the newspaper the greater the number of lives thus involved in the event, the better is the news.

[Pg 23]

The Appeal of Children. The unusual appeal that children make gives news of their activities especial value. Whenever a little child plays a part in an event, it is pretty sure to be the best feature of the story. The letter which a small girl writes to the mayor asking that her pet dog be restored to her from the dog pound, will take a place in the day’s news beside the interview with the mayor outlining his policies of city government for the following two years. A child witness holds the attention of the entire court room and is “featured” in the story of a trial, partly, no doubt, because the appearance of a child in these circumstances is unusual, but largely because of our interest in children. Just as a child’s plea to a judge saves its worthless father or drunken mother from a prison sentence, so the story of that plea will move every reader. Anecdotes and sayings of children readily find a place in newspapers and magazines.

Interest in Animals. The popular interest in animals, wild or tame, in captivity or at large, makes news stories about them good reading. Whether we are attracted by the almost human intelligence that animals often display, or by their distinctly animal traits, we read of their doings with keen interest. Anecdotes of animal pets if well told are always readable. The fascination which the “zoo” or the circus menagerie has for most people is akin to the pleasure given by anecdotes of animals in captivity. Every city editor knows the value of the zoölogical garden as a source of effective stories when other fields fail. Wild animals at large, particularly when they come into any relation with men, afford good material for the reporter or correspondent.

Amusements and Hobbies. The favorite pleasures and amusements of readers form another large[Pg 24] group of activities that must be considered in measuring the value of news. Besides the contest element in sports that interests the spectator, there is the attraction of athletics for the players. Golf, tennis, automobiling, and similar activities furnish news that is read by those who engage in these diversions. Accounts of the theatre, of concerts, and of all forms of amusements are read by the thousands who patronize these entertainments. Pastimes and hobbies, such as amateur photography, book-collecting, fishing and hunting, canoeing and sailing, whist and chess, have enough devotees to give value to news of such avocations. Here again the number of readers to whom such news appeals determines the space and the prominence that it is worth.

Degree of Readers’ Interest. Persons, places, or things that go to make up news excite a degree of interest proportional to (1) the reader’s familiarity with them, (2) their own importance and prominence, (3) the closeness of their relation to the reader’s personal affairs.

Local Interest. Local events interest readers because they know the places and often the persons concerned. Local news, accordingly, takes precedence over news from elsewhere of equal or greater importance as measured by the general standards of news value. Interest in most news stories may be said to vary inversely in proportion to the distance between the place of the event described and the place where the paper is published. Just as the splash is greatest where a stone strikes the water, the ripples growing less and less marked as the force of the shock spreads out over the pond, so the impression made by an occurrence grows less and less the farther one goes from the scene of action. We read more eagerly the account of a small fire in a building that we pass every day than the dispatch telling of a fire that wiped out a whole town two[Pg 25] thousand miles away. The arrest of a man for speeding his automobile will cause more comment among his friends than the capture of a gang of automobile bandits that has terrorized another city. Local phases, or “local ends,” as they are called, of events that take place some distance away quite overshadow in interest more important phases of the event itself. Every effort is made in the newspaper to bring events, ideas, and activities elsewhere into some local relation.

Interest in the Prominent. The interest which all readers have in what is familiar to them extends to persons, places, and things that they may not know personally but that they recognize as important or prominent. They like to read about men and women who are leaders in social, business, or political activities in the city, the state, the nation, or anywhere in the world, even though these persons exist for them only in name. A high position itself gives added importance to news concerning the person who occupies it, although many readers may not have heard of him before. Thus, in order to appeal to this general interest in the doings of persons of position, some less scrupulous reporters and editors describe the characters in their news stories as “prominent,” “well-known,” “a college graduate,” “a beautiful young society girl,” when the facts do not warrant it. Personages who are well known do not need such introduction; their names alone serve to identify them. The value of news concerning a person may be said to vary in direct proportion to his prominence. A slight accident to a candidate for the presidency of the United States attracts much more attention than a serious one to a candidate for Congress. A story of the wedding of the daughter of a multi-millionaire has thousands of readers because of the prominence of her father, whereas the account of the wedding of the corner[Pg 26] grocer’s daughter attracts only a small number who know the families. The daily life of the great affords daily pleasure to the humble.

Places that readers have often heard of, but in many cases have never seen, such as New York, Paris, Washington, Coney Island, Niagara Falls, possess an attraction that makes news from them the more interesting even though it may consist of no more than gossip and trivial happenings. Well-known places as the setting for events give added importance, therefore, to the news value of these events. Institutions, such as universities of national reputation, the Library of Congress, the Rockefeller Institute, the Young Men’s Christian Association, the Salvation Army, because they are generally known, likewise attract attention to news involving them. Familiar names of great ocean steamships, of large commercial companies, and of important railroad systems, increase the news value of stories in which they appear. Size and prominence, then, of places and things, like importance and prominence of persons, determine news values.

Home and Business Interests. The most vital concerns of both men and women, however, are their business and their home, their prosperity and their happiness. Whatever in the daily round of events affects these interests most directly will get their closest attention. Upon this principle depends the news value of many newspaper stories. Stock brokers and investors read the stock market reports; buyers and farmers, the produce and live stock quotations; owners and agents of real estate, the records of transfers and mortgages; business men generally, commercial and industrial news, because of the relation of such news to their own business affairs. A marked rise or fall in the price of butter, eggs, meat, or other staple articles of[Pg 27] food concerns not only the dealers but housewives and other purchasers of such commodities. Announcement of the proposed construction of a new trolley line appeals to readers whose transportation facilities or property are affected. Income tax legislation, parcel post, adjustments of railroad rates, state or federal supreme court decisions, the tariff, and other political and economic problems, usually interest the average reader in proportion as he thinks that they will affect him and his business. For most women readers home-making and fashions are of vital concern. Besides matters pertaining to the cost of living, which affect men and women alike, pure food laws and their enforcement, schools, the health and welfare of children, the servant problem, the milk and the water supplies, as well as the latest styles of dress,—all come very close to the everyday lives of women, who constitute no small part of the number of newspaper readers. Incidental concerns of both men and women readers, such as organizations to which they belong, general movements with which they are connected, or the social life of which they are a part, give interest for them to news concerning these activities. News values, therefore, are measured by the extent to which news affects directly the lives of readers; the greater the effect and the larger the number of readers affected, the better the news.

Combination of Interests. If one event possesses several of these different kinds of interest it is very good news, because of the greater number of readers to whom it appeals and because of the stronger appeal that it makes. Thus, for example, the “Titanic” disaster was extremely unusual in that the largest ocean liner on its first trip was sunk by an iceberg while proceeding at a high rate of speed on a clear night. Greater still was its interest because of the very large number of human lives[Pg 28] involved. Added to this was the fact that many of the passengers were prominent. The result was that news of the disaster was read with the greatest eagerness by all classes everywhere in this country as well as abroad. The combination of sources of interest and the greater degree of interest that results must be taken into consideration in measuring the final value of news.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Ask yourself concerning every piece of information, How many readers will it interest? How much will it interest the average reader? Is it really new and timely?
2. Examine every phase of an event or idea for what will be of greatest interest to the greatest number.
3. Look always for what will appeal to the average reader as most unusual, curious, remarkable.
4. Consider the things that give most persons great pleasure and satisfaction.
5. Don’t overlook the “human interest” element in the day’s events.
6. Remember that a good fight interests many, whether it is in politics, business, or sport.
7. Don’t neglect children in the news; though small they make a big appeal.
8. Keep on the look-out for good stories of animals.
9. Provide reading for men and women with hobbies.
10. Measure the value of your news on the basis of its local interest.
11. Remember that readers are most interested in persons and places that they know.
12. Consider the news value given by the importance and prominence of persons and things.
13. Bring your news as close as possible to the reader’s home and business.
14. Sharpen your “nose for news” on the grindstone of experience.

GETTING THE NEWS

The Problem of News Gathering. The mystery of newspaper making, to the uninitiated, is how editors and reporters find out everything that happens and how they get it into print in a very short time. It seems strange to the average person that when an accident occurs in the block in which he lives, the first news of it often reaches him through the newspaper. The apparent omnipresence, not to say omniscience, of the reporter leads to the not unnatural assumption that the news gatherer walks about the city waiting Micawber-like for “something to turn up.” The size of the staff of reporters that would be required to maintain a patrol of the streets would approximate that of the police force, and would bankrupt the most prosperous newspaper. Such a system is not only impossible but quite unnecessary. News gathering is really no mystery at all, but merely a good example of efficient organization.

In organizing its news collecting, the newspaper only takes advantage of information filed for various official purposes by many different persons in no way connected with the newspaper. Policemen, firemen, sheriffs, coroners, and practically all officials of local, state, and national governments, as well as doctors, lawyers, and merchants are all unintentionally serving as reporters of news. The public records in all public or private offices are the reports which these men, many times quite unconsciously, furnish for the newspapers. What[Pg 30] the news editors do is to see that a careful watch is maintained by their reporters at all places where news is thus recorded so that they may select whatever part of it is of interest to their readers.

News Sources. The places where news is recorded, not primarily for the newspapers but really to their great advantage, and the kinds of news to be found at each place are indicated by the following list of news sources:—

News “Runs.” To get all the news that develops at each of these and many other similar places, the city editor divides the news sources into “runs” or “beats,” and details a reporter to each “run.” The reporter assigned to get or “cover” the news of police headquarters is said to have the “police run”; another assigned to the city hall has the “city hall run,” or is “city hall reporter”; one who gets the news of the child welfare movement, of social centers, benevolent organizations, etc., is said to have the “uplift run”; another is on the “hotel run.” To cover adequately these news sources, the reporter visits each office on his run from one to six times a day, examining records, interviewing officials, and chatting with secretaries and clerks. The number of times that he visits an office and the length of time that he stays are determined approximately by the amount and value of the news likely to be obtained.

As the reporter is held responsible for all the news of the places on his “run,” he must not let anything escape his notice, because a keener, quicker-witted man on the same “run” for a rival paper may get what he misses. When a reporter obtains a piece of news that reporters on other papers do not get, he is said to have a “scoop” or “beat,” and the unsuccessful paper and its reporters are said to have been “scooped.”

[Pg 32]

City News Associations. In large cities, like New York and Chicago, the gathering of all the official or routine news is done by a central news association which furnishes each paper that belongs to the association or which pays for its services, with a mimeographed copy of every news story that its reporters secure in covering all the usual runs. By this method each paper is saved the expense of providing for the scores of runs necessary in a large city in order to cover adequately all the news sources each day. When the city editor gets a news bulletin or a complete story from the news association, he can have it rewritten or can send out one of his reporters if he desires to have the event more fully covered. Such a system of local news gathering makes possible a staff of reporters relatively small as compared with the size of the city. Reporters employed by the city news association work under conditions practically the same as those in a newspaper office. Inasmuch as the stories that a news association reporter writes are edited in at least half a dozen newspaper offices by different editors and copy-readers, the reporter has the advantage of seeing how various papers treat the same news story.

Assignments. In organizing news gathering, the city editor and his assistants keep a “future” book or file with a page or compartment for each day in the year. Into this are placed, under the appropriate day, all notes, clippings, and suggestions regarding future news possibilities. If, for example, on December 10, the state legislature passes a law in regard to the size of berry boxes, to take effect on March 1 of the following year, the city editor puts a clipping of the dispatch from the state capital telling of this action, or a note recording the fact, into the compartment or page labeled February 25, so that a week before March 1, he may assign[Pg 33] one of his reporters to find out from wholesale commission dealers, berry-crate manufacturers, and the inspector of weights and measures, what steps are to be taken to carry out the provisions of the law. A similar news record is kept by the telegraph and state editors covering future events in their fields, so that correspondents may be given instructions and advice.

The city editor also has an assignment book or sheet on which is entered every important news possibility for the day, with the name of the reporter assigned to cover it, and with any information or suggestions that the editor wants to give the reporter. When the reporter arrives at the office to begin his day’s work, or when he reports to the office by telephone, he gets his assignments for the day. These assignments are usually connected with his run, so that while he is on his daily round of news gathering he may get in addition the special news assigned to him.

“Covering” Important Events. To secure an adequate report of an important event, such as a state political convention, a visit of the President of the United States, a serious crime, or a wide-spread flood, the city editor arranges the work of the various members of his staff so that every important phase of the event will be “covered.” On the occasion of a day’s visit of the president, for example, one reporter is assigned to follow the chief executive about all day from the time he arrives until he leaves, and to write the general story of his visit. Another is detailed to report his arrival, the ovation given him, and possibly the short speech that he makes in response. A third is told to “cover” the reception tendered by the Merchants and Manufacturers Club; a fourth to report the luncheon given for him at the City Club; and a fifth who can write shorthand to get a verbatim report of his speech at the Coliseum[Pg 34] in the afternoon. Practically every event that can be anticipated is provided for in advance by the city editor, and to that extent is easier to handle than the unexpected ones.

When Big News “Breaks.” Important events that occur unexpectedly are the real test of the editor’s ability to organize his staff quickly and effectively. What is involved in arranging to get all phases of a big news story is shown by the manner in which such an event as the attempted assassination of Mayor Gaynor of New York on August 9, 1910, was handled by the New York papers. The following summary of an account given by one of the city editors illustrates the methods employed.[3]

The first news of the attempt to assassinate the mayor came at 9:30 A.M. in the form of a news association bulletin which read:

The city editor on a morning paper at once got in touch with as many of his reporters as he could reach on the telephone. The first three reporters that he telephoned to were told the substance of the bulletin and were sent to Hoboken to get the details.

The second bulletin from the news association, received a few minutes after the first, was as follows:

As soon as another reporter was available, the city editor told him to go to St. Mary’s Hospital to see the doctors and to report the result at once. The fifth reporter was sent to find Mrs. Gaynor at her city home[Pg 35] or at her country house, as the city editor knew that she was not accompanying the mayor on his trip abroad.

The third news association bulletin, or “flash,” gave these facts concerning the assassin:

The city editor thereupon gave a reporter this assignment. “Go up there; get all you can about him. Get a picture. Find out to what political party he belongs. Run him to the ground and phone me later; I may be able to give you something additional.” To another reporter the city editor said: “Gallagher is to be arraigned in the police headquarters in Hoboken; go over there quickly.”

The next bulletin opened up a new phase of the subject, the motive for the crime:

After the reporter who had been sent out to get the history of Gallagher telephoned that Gallagher had been a disgruntled employee of the city who had been constantly writing letters of complaint to his superiors, the city editor assigned a reporter to get the facts, saying: “Gallagher was a chronic kicker. Go down to the Department of Docks and to the Civil Service Commission and get copies of all the correspondence.”

A reporter was sent to see John Purroy Mitchel, the acting mayor, another to find out the city charter provisions regarding a possible vacancy in the office of mayor under such circumstances. A rewrite man was told to get from the office collection of biographical sketches, or “morgue,” the material on file concerning the life of the mayor and to write an obituary. A tip[Pg 36] by telephone from a man who had once employed Gallagher to the effect that he had often done strange, uncanny things, led to a reporter’s being sent to get further particulars from this informant.

The complete list of assignments as they appeared on the city editor’s sheet was as follows, each being preceded by the name of the reporter detailed to cover that particular phase of the event: (1) Main story of Gaynor shooting, (2) Interviews on board the Kaiser Wilhelm, (3) Gallagher on board the Kaiser Wilhelm, (4) Gallagher, the man, and his correspondence, (5) Gaynor at St. Mary’s Hospital, (6) The arraignment of Gallagher and his plans, (7) Mrs. Gaynor and family, (8) John Purroy Mitchel, the acting mayor, (9) City Hall, (10) What the charter says, with interviews, (11) Obituary of Gaynor, (12) The strange, uncanny things Gallagher did.

Getting the Facts. A large part of news gathering consists of getting information from persons by asking questions. To ask questions that will elicit the desired facts most effectively is not so easy as it seems. Most persons, although not unwilling to give information, are not particularly interested in doing so, and in replying do not discriminate between what is news and what is not. Tact and skill are necessary to get many persons to tell what they know. A stranger who insists on asking questions is very naturally regarded with suspicion. Even when it becomes known that the stranger is a newspaper reporter, he is not always cordially received. Often he finds that it is easier to get the facts when his identity as a reporter is revealed. Nevertheless, there are not infrequent occasions when all the skill of an astute lawyer examining a witness is required to get the desired information. Reporters should never hesitate to ask tactfully as many[Pg 37] questions as are necessary, and to persist until they get what they want.

The way in which the reporter works in gathering together the various phases of an event before he is ready to write the story is best shown by an example. The city editor, let us say, receives a bulletin to the effect that an unknown, well-dressed man of about sixty years has been seriously injured by falling off the platform in the subway station at 65th Street and Western Avenue, and that he has been removed to St. Mary’s Hospital. The city editor sends out one of his reporters to find out what he can about the accident.

The reporter starts at once for the subway station. At the corner near the station he sees a policeman with whom he carries on the following conversation:

The reporter thereupon goes down into the subway station. The ticker chopper, he finds, has just come on[Pg 38] duty and does not know anything about the accident. He therefore decides to inquire of the girl in charge of the news-stand. The conversation between her and the reporter is as follows:

On reaching the hospital, which is only two blocks from the subway station, the reporter asks for the superintendent, with whom he carries on the following conversation:

It is a business card of the Blair Photographic Studio, 712 Broadway, on the back of which is written in pencil the words, “Oliver, Ithaca.” To save time, the reporter telephones from the office of the hospital to the[Pg 40] Blair Studio, and the conversation over the telephone between the reporter and the clerk is as follows:

From the hospital the reporter hurries to the place where Mr. Williams lived before he left for Ithaca. The conversation between the landlady of the rooming house at 3116 Easton Street and the reporter follows:

The reporter then stops at the drug store on the next corner to find out whether or not the name of Frank Dutcher appears in the city directory. No such name is to be found in this directory or in the telephone directory. As no more information is apparently obtainable, he returns to the News office and reports to the city editor what he has found. The city editor tells him to write about 500 words playing up the girl’s part in stopping the train, and saying that the man is “supposed to be” Frank Dutcher.

Putting the Facts into the News Story. The story that the reporter writes is as follows:—

An analysis of this story shows how the reporter wove together all the important pieces of information which he had gathered by interviewing the policeman, the news-stand girl, the hospital superintendent, the clerk in the studio, and the landlady, none of whom are specifically mentioned as the sources of his information. In accordance with the instructions of the city editor, he “played up” the “feature” of the story, the bravery of the girl, by putting it at the beginning and by describing the accident in detail to show her heroism.

Following up the News. Many news stories, like the one just considered, do not exhaust the news possibilities of the event, but may be followed up in later[Pg 44] editions or in the next day’s issues by completing what was necessarily left incomplete for lack of time, or by giving new phases of the event that have developed since the first story was written. A reporter on a morning paper, for example, would be given a clipping of the above story taken from the afternoon edition, and would be told by the city editor to see the coroner to get the results of his telegram to Williams, the man’s nephew, at Ithaca, and any other information available regarding the identity of the old man. Often unexpected and important news develops, which makes the “follow-up,” or second story a bigger one than the first. Each reporter and correspondent should read carefully as many newspapers as possible before he begins his day’s work so that he may get suggestions for “follow-up” stories on his “run,” or for “local ends” of news stories sent in from outside the city. In large offices, one of the editors goes over all the local newspapers to clip out the stories to be “followed up,” or to be rewritten in the office.

Interviewing. In obtaining the information for the foregoing story by means of conversations with several persons, the reporter’s aim was to get what they said rather than how they said it; that is, he wanted primarily the facts that they had to give, not the way that they expressed these facts. In the news story it was not necessary to refer specifically to the persons who furnished the information or to quote what they said. In many instances, however, it is important to “interview” persons in order to obtain their opinions or their versions of current events and to give what they say just as they said it. The terms “interviewing” and “interview” in newspaper work are often limited to this method of reporting practically verbatim what is said by the persons “interviewed.” Interviewing of this[Pg 45] type requires great skill and tact, and successful interviewers are highly valued on all newspapers.

The two problems that the reporter has to meet are how to gain access to the person to be interviewed and how to induce him to talk for publication. Busy men have not time or inclination to give interviews to every reporter who desires them. Many times such men do not wish to say anything for publication on the desired subject, and absolutely refuse to talk. The resourcefulness of the reporter is tested again and again in getting access to men who are surrounded in their offices by office boys, private secretaries, and clerks, and who on public occasions such as banquets and receptions are sometimes equally well guarded against newspaper men. When it is impossible to see the man personally, it may be possible to submit to him several written questions and thus lead him to issue a statement answering or evading the questions.

Even when an audience is secured with the person to be interviewed, his not infrequent unwillingness to talk for publication has to be overcome. On some occasions to ask immediately and directly for the desired information is the best way to secure results. At other times, to engage him in conversation on some subject in which he is interested and then to lead to the one on which the reporter wishes to interview him, proves successful. Young reporters often insist on giving their own views on the subject on which they are trying to interview a person. The reporter should remember that he is an impartial observer, not an advocate on one side or the other. If in an effort to get information from the person whom he is interviewing he suggests opposing opinions, these opinions should not be given as his own but as those of others. Tact and a knowledge of human nature are essential.

[Pg 46]

In interviewing, as in all reporting, the newspaper man should not take notes in the presence of the person with whom he is talking unless he feels sure it can be done without affecting the freedom and ease with which the man will talk. As soon as a reporter begins to take notes, the speaker at once realizes that his statements are to appear in black and white for the world to read. That realization leads to caution, and caution leads to silence, partial or complete. To get the person to talk as freely and naturally as possible is the object of all interviewing, for the best interviewers want more than words; they want the fullest expression of personality, an expression that is only possible when all feeling of restraint is absent. The good interviewer cultivates verbal memory so that he can reproduce verbatim all the significant statements which he has obtained as soon as he is out of the presence of the man that he has interviewed. At the first convenient place immediately after the interview is over, the reporter writes out as much as he desires to print, word for word as he remembers it.

Reporting Speeches. In reporting speeches, addresses, lectures, and sermons, the newspaper man either takes long-hand notes and writes out later what he wants to use, or writes a long-hand verbatim report of such parts as he desires. Few reporters can write short-hand, and the few who can generally do not use it extensively because of the length of time required to transcribe short-hand notes. It is much quicker, and therefore more important in newspaper work, to write a connected or “running” story, or verbatim report of a speech or lecture while it is being delivered, by selecting significant statements and by omitting the explanatory ones. With a little practice, the average person of intelligence can remember a statement, word for word,[Pg 47] as the speaker makes it, long enough to put it in writing, and then by repeating this process for every important statement, can give an accurate verbatim, but necessarily condensed, report of any speech. As newspapers generally want only a small part of the average address, the reporter has little difficulty in writing a good account of it in long-hand. When a complete verbatim report is desired, a short-hand reporter is assigned to cover the address.

“Covering” Trials and Hearings. The same general principles governing the reporting of speeches apply to the reporting of trials where testimony is given in response to questioning by attorneys, or when witnesses appear before investigating committees of the state legislature, Congress, or other bodies. Questions and answers may be taken down, or if the substance of the testimony is desired in either verbatim or indirect form, the reporter can fit together the answers into a continuous account of what the witness testifies, neglecting partially or entirely the questions that elicit the testimony. A “running story” of the trial or investigation is generally written in the room where it is going on, so that the copy may be put into type as fast as possible. In reporting important trials the newspaper sometimes arranges to get a complete verbatim report from the official short-hand court reporter or occasionally from an expert stenographer employed for the purpose, and from this complete record those facts that are desired for publication are selected.

Advance Copies. It is always a great advantage to a newspaper to secure in advance a copy of a speech, a report, a decision, or any document, so that it may be put in form for publication and may be set up in type ready to print as soon as possible after it is given to the public. Such advance news is marked to be “released”[Pg 48] for publication when it becomes public. For example, when a copy of the speech to be delivered by the governor of the state at the laying of a corner-stone at eleven o’clock in the morning on Washington’s Birthday, is obtained a day or two in advance, it is marked “Release 12 M., Feb. 22.” The result will be that in the first edition of the afternoon paper published after 12 o’clock noon on February 22 as much of the speech as is desired can be printed, perhaps a few minutes after the governor has concluded his address. Newspapers always regard most scrupulously the release date which the reporter or correspondent puts at the top of his advance story. To violate the confidence of men who furnish news in advance by publishing it before it should be released, is considered by newspaper men a serious breach of trust. Reporters and correspondents should, therefore, mark plainly at the top of the first sheet of copy the word “release” followed by the hour and date when it can be printed. If the date and hour at which the news will become public cannot be fixed in advance, the copy is marked, “Hold for Release, which will probably be at 12 M., Feb. 22”; and the reporter or correspondent notifies his paper of the exact time of release as soon as it is fixed.

Getting News by Telephone. The telephone, both in local and in long distance service, is extensively used in getting news and in communicating it to the newspaper office. Editors often telephone their instructions to reporters and correspondents. Newspapermen use the telephone to “run down” rumors and “tips,” to verify news reports, to get “interviews,” and, in short, to obtain all kinds of information. Although some men refuse to be “interviewed” over the telephone, it is often possible to get “interviews” more easily by this means than by any other. Reporters, or “watchers,” at[Pg 49] police headquarters and at other news sources telephone important information to the city editor so that he may assign men to get the news involved. When lack of time prevents the reporter from returning to the office to write his story, he telephones the facts to a “rewrite man,” who puts them in news-story form. Or the reporter may dictate his story over the telephone to a man in the newspaper office, who, using an overhead receiver like that worn by telephone operators, takes it down rapidly on a typewriter. Experienced reporters can dictate their stories in this way with only their notes before them. The long distance service is used in the same manner by correspondents when it can be more advantageously employed than the telegraph.

Photographs. Illustrations, or “cuts,” have come to be an important part of almost all newspapers. Although most of the photographs used for illustrations are made by the staff photographer or are secured from companies that make a specialty of taking pictures of current events, reporters and correspondents are often able to supply their papers with pictures of persons, places, or events that are a part of the day’s news. Good photographs may sometimes be secured from amateurs who happen to get snapshots of some interesting occurrence. Every reporter and every correspondent should have a camera and should learn how to take pictures to illustrate the stories that he writes, even though he may not have occasion to take such photographs frequently. Unmounted photographic prints with a glossy surface and with strong contrasts are the most satisfactory ones from which to make newspaper halftones. A brief description of the picture should be written on the back of every photograph. Unmounted photographs should always be mailed flat. Correspondents are paid for photographs that are used by newspapers.

[Pg 50]

Special Kinds of News. Special kinds of reporting, such as is done by sporting, market, financial, railroad, labor, marine, society, dramatic, and musical editors, naturally requires special training and experience in the subject matter of these fields. The methods of gathering these special kinds of news are not particularly different from those of collecting general news. The sporting editor and his assistants often have to write a “running” account of a baseball game or football game as it progresses. The musical and dramatic critics, of course, express their opinions on productions, instead of simply reporting what took place at the theatre or concert. The railroad, labor, market, or marine editors report the news in their particular fields, sometimes in special forms, such as market reports or quotations, but their work of news gathering is like that of the general reporter.

Qualifications of the Reporter. Rapidity, perseverance, accuracy, intelligence, and tact, as well as the “news sense,” or “nose for news,” are the essential qualifications for successful reporting.

Nowhere is it truer that “time is money” than in newspaper making. The reporter, as the news collector and news writer, must save as much time as possible by working fast. To know just where to get the news and how to get it quickly, always means great economy of time and effort. Rapid, accurate judgment of news values, likewise, is an important qualification for a good newspaper man. “Get all the news and get it quick,” was the command that a certain city editor of the old school used to thunder at his cub reporters.

Perseverance. To get all the news, or sometimes to get any news, demands perseverance. The reporter must follow one clue after another until he finds what he is looking for, or is convinced that there is nothing[Pg 51] to find. By stopping in his pursuit before he has all there is to get, he may miss the biggest “feature” of the story. Every neglected clue may mean a “scoop” by a rival. To return empty-handed is to admit defeat. News hunting is often discouraging business, but the reporter must always keep up his determination by a firm belief that what is eluding him may be a big story, probably the biggest story of his career.

Accuracy. Accuracy must extend to every detail of reporting. As the reporter is seldom on the spot when an unexpected event happens, he must rely upon the accounts of it given by eye witnesses. These accounts often differ materially because of the common inaccuracy of observation and judgment. The reporter must weigh the testimony of each witness, much as a juryman does in a trial, and must decide which version is the most probable one. When time permits, he can verify doubtful details by questioning other witnesses on the particular parts in which the versions differ. He should always make every reasonable effort to get all particulars as accurately as possible.

Great care should invariably be taken to have names and addresses correct. The reporter will do well to ask his informants to spell unfamiliar names for him. City, telephone, and society directories, the various kinds of “Who’s Who” volumes, and similar lists, are convenient sources for getting names, initials, and addresses. Even the necessity for speed in newspaper work is not a valid excuse for carelessness and inaccuracy in news gathering. The minutes required to verify names, addresses, and other details, are always well spent. Rumors and unconfirmed statements generally should be carefully investigated before they are given much credence, especially when they reflect upon the reputation of persons, organizations, or business enterprises.[Pg 52] A false rumor given wide currency through a newspaper may ruin a man or a woman, or seriously injure a bank or business firm. No correction or retraction that a newspaper can make ever counteracts completely the effects of the original story. A rumor is often valuable as a news “tip,” but like all news tips it needs to be traced to its source and confirmed by evidence before it is really news. Often it is mere gossip or the product of a fertile imagination, with little or no basis in fact. False and inaccurate statements are not what newspapers or their readers want.

Tact and Courtesy. On the stage the reporter runs about with note-book and pencil in hand; in real life, he carries some folded sheets of copy paper on which to take notes when necessary, in a way to attract the least possible attention. He neither conceals nor displays his profession. An impersonal, anonymous observer of persons and events, he does not obtrude his personality upon those with whom his work brings him in contact. Tactful, courteous, friendly, he elicits his information as quickly as possible. When a more aggressive attitude is necessary to secure what he wants and has a right to have, he is equal to the occasion. But whatever may be the circumstances, the reporter never forgets that he is a gentleman, and that the newspaper which he represents never expects him to do anything to get the news that he or it need be ashamed to acknowledge to the world. Some papers may not hold up this ideal to their reporters and editors, but every self-respecting newspaper must.

To cultivate personal acquaintance with those with whom news gathering brings the reporter in contact, is the best means of increasing his ability to get the news. When men come to have a friendly interest in the reporter and his work, and find that they can trust him to report accurately the news that they give him,[Pg 53] they often go out of their way to help him. Many a “scoop” has been the result of the friendly aid of some one who had news to give and who saved it for the reporter in whom he had become personally interested. In other instances, where official news must be given to all alike, the favored reporter may be given a “tip” in advance as to some important phase of this official news which he can use to advantage in his paper, or he may be able to get an advance copy of a report or of a public document so that his paper will have a good story on it ready to print as soon as it is given to the public.

Through his personal relations with men, however, the reporter is sometimes put in a difficult position. In conversation with friends, for example, he may learn of important news that would make a good story and perhaps give him credit for a “scoop.” But he must remember that when he obtains news in the confidence of private conversation, he has no right to use it without the consent of those from whom he gets it in this way. At other times he may be given news with the request that it be not published, and again he must beware of violating confidence. No self-respecting reporter will fail to regard the trust placed in him by those with whom he comes in contact either in social or professional relations. Another problem confronts the reporter when friends or acquaintances request him to suppress the whole or a part of a news story that it is his duty to write. Since a reporter is supposed to give all the important facts in a fair and impartial manner, he has no right to omit any of them without the knowledge of his superiors. The best way out of the difficulty, therefore, is to tell those who desire the suppression of any news that the decision in such matters rests with the editor and not with the reporter.

[Pg 54]

How the Correspondent Works. The work of the correspondent is very much the same as that of the reporter. Like the reporter, he gets assignments or instructions from time to time; he asks his superiors how much of a story they want on a particular event; he watches the news sources in the city or town for which he is responsible. As he is frequently on the staff of a local paper as well, he has the advantage of whatever news is collected for this paper. Whenever an important event is to take place in the district which he covers, he receives instructions a day or two in advance from the telegraph editor telling him what the paper wants and how much he is to send. If the telegraph editor desires some phase of an unexpected happening looked up by the correspondent, he telegraphs to him the necessary directions. The correspondent, likewise, telegraphs to the editor whenever he has a story on which he wants instructions. When a correspondent telegraphs for instructions, he is said to send a “query” or “to query” his paper. A query usually consists of a brief statement of the news in a sentence or two followed by the number of words in which the correspondent thinks he can write the story adequately. The typical form of a query would be:

The telegraph editor can use the facts thus given in the query by turning the dispatch over to the copy desk to be edited for the next edition; and at the same time he may telegraph to Wilson, the Easthampton correspondent, to send 150 instead of 300 words on the fire. The correspondent, on receiving these instructions, telegraphs[Pg 55] at once as much of the story as he can in 150 words. He always puts at the end of the dispatch before his signature the hour at which he files the story at the telegraph office, so that he will not be held responsible for any delay in transmitting or delivering the telegram.

When the correspondent has a number of news stories of interest on which he desires to have instructions, he sends his “queries” in the form of a “schedule” in which each story is numbered. For example:

The telegraph editor might reply to this schedule with the following instructions, which would indicate how much the correspondent is to send on each of the stories that he has scheduled, as well as the fact that nothing is wanted on story No. 5.

The correspondent is paid a regular salary if the amount of news that he sends daily is considerable, but more often he is paid every month at a regular space rate for the amount printed of the news that he sends during the month. On some papers the correspondents clip out all of their news stories and paste them together in a “string” which they send in once a month,[Pg 56] so that the telegraph editor may pay them according to the length of the “string.” In many offices the telegraph editor keeps a record by crediting every correspondent with what he furnishes, and sends monthly a check for the amount due.

News Associations. Most of the news of the state, nation, and world generally is furnished to newspapers, not by their own correspondents, but through one of the several news or press associations, such as the Associated Press, the United Press, and the International Press Service. The Associated Press is a coöperative news-gathering and news-distributing organization with a membership consisting of many of the leading papers throughout the country. The expenses of the association are divided equally among the newspapers that are members. Each paper that belongs to the association agrees to furnish all the others with the news that it gets in the local field. The Associated Press also has correspondents everywhere in the world, most of whom are paid for what news they furnish, while others at important news centers are regularly employed to gather and send news to the association. To facilitate the handling of the news, the Associated Press has divided the country into four divisions with a central office and a superintendent in each; and in these divisions there is a bureau at every important news center with a correspondent who is responsible for all the news in his district of the division. Associated Press correspondents send the news of the cities, towns, or sections for which they are responsible to the district bureau, or the division office, where it is edited and distributed to the newspapers of the division, and is sent on to the other division offices to be edited and distributed to papers in these divisions. The United Press is a corporation which furnishes its news service[Pg 57] to afternoon papers at a rate determined by the distance of the newspaper from the distributing point and by the amount of news sent. It differs from the Associated Press in the fact that it is not a coöperative organization. The International Press Service connected with the papers controlled by Mr. W. R. Hearst also furnishes newspapers generally with news service.

The instructions given by the Associated Press and the United Press to their correspondents, from which the following extracts are taken, indicate the general rules to be followed by a correspondent who is sending out news that is of more than local interest.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Always have at hand several soft black pencils.
2. Take notes on folded copy paper rather than in a notebook.
3. Keep a pocket date-book for all future events and news possibilities.
4. Get all the news; don’t stop with half of it.
5. Run down every clue whenever the character of the news warrants it.
6. Work rapidly; don’t putter.
7. Don’t make the necessity for speed an excuse for carelessness or inaccuracy.
8. Be especially careful about names, initials, and addresses.
9. Don’t take rumors for facts.
10. Persevere until you get what you were sent for; don’t come back empty-handed.
11. Be resourceful in devising ways and means of getting news.
12. Study your paper to see to what kind of news it gives greatest space and prominence.
13. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the whole city, and especially with every place on your own run.
14. Never neglect even for a day a news source on your regular run.[Pg 59]
15. Make acquaintances among all classes of people with whom your work brings you in contact.
16. Interest your friends and acquaintances in your work so that they will coöperate with you in getting news.
17. Gather all news quietly and unobtrusively.
18. Be tactful with every one; never make an enemy.
19. Never betray a confidence no matter how big the “scoop” would be if you did.
20. Remember that you can always be both a gentleman and a good reporter.
21. Don’t take notes in interviewing.
22. Always know exactly what information you desire before beginning to interview a person.
23. Get advance copies of anything to be quoted directly or indirectly in a news story.
24. Mark the release date plainly at the beginning of all advance copies or stories.
25. Get photographs of persons and events if possible, and write a description on the back of the photographs.
26. File telegraph stories at the earliest possible moment.
27. Always follow instructions.
28. Mail stories, either by regular or special delivery, whenever they will surely reach the newspaper in time for the edition for which they are intended.
29. Never put off till to-morrow sending news that is new to-day.

STRUCTURE AND STYLE IN NEWS STORIES

Writing the News. After the reporter has found the news and has collected all the important details concerning it, he must write it up for publication. To present the news effectively is as important as to get it. Many a good piece of news has been spoiled in the writing. The raw material of fact must be transformed skillfully into the finished product of the news story. The reporter is supposed to be able to write an adequate report. When he does not, the copy-reader or the “rewrite man” is called upon to make good the reporter’s failure. Ordinarily the copy-reader needs only to polish off the rough edges. The work of the good reporter ought to require little or no editing. The careless, slovenly writer is not a welcome addition to the staff of any paper. The less editing a reporter’s copy requires the more satisfactory will he be.

Essentials of Good Copy. The first essential of good copy is legibility. Typewritten copy, double or triple spaced, is always preferred. In long-hand writing, likewise, liberal space should be left between the lines and for margins. In such copy the “u’s” should be underscored and the “n’s” overscored in order to differentiate them. Proper names in long-hand copy should be printed to avoid errors in spelling. If the story is begun halfway down the first page, the copy-reader will have enough space on that sheet to write the headline. Quotation marks, or “quotes” as they are called, should be enclosed in half-circles, thus, “⁾stunt,⁽” to indicate[Pg 61] whether they are beginning or end marks. A small cross may be used to advantage for a period. Numerical figures and abbreviations that are to be spelled out should be enclosed in a circle. Each paragraph should be indented, and the first word of it should be preceded by an inverted “L,” thus ⅃; if a new paragraph is desired where there was none in the copy as first written, the paragraph sign (¶) should be used. At the end of every complete story should be placed the end mark (#); if the story is incomplete, the word “more” is written beneath the last sentence. Additions to follow the last sentence of the story are marked with the name of the story and the abbreviation for additions; thus, “Add 2 Hotel Fire” means that the piece of copy is the second addition to the hotel fire story; “Add 1 Wilkins Suicide” means the first addition to the story of Wilkins’ suicide. Additions to be inserted in the story are marked “Insert A—Johnson Will Case” for the first insert in the “Will Case” story; “Insert B—Trolley Collision” for the second insert in the collision story. The place at which the new piece of copy is to be inserted is often indicated thus: “Insert after first paragraph of lead—Murder Trial.” Copy must never be written on both sides of the paper.

Style and Structure. In the writing of the news story two elements must be considered: (1) the style; and (2) the structure. The first has to do with the expression; the second with the arrangement of material.

Clearness. Clearness is the first requisite of newspaper style as it is of all writing. Newspapers are read rapidly, and rapid reading is possible only when the words yield their ideas with little effort on the part of the reader. The less the effort required to get the meaning, the more easily and rapidly can he read. Clearness is most readily obtained by comparative simplicity of[Pg 62] style. However effective elaborate sentence construction, learned diction, and carefully wrought figures of speech may be in other kinds of writing, they ordinarily have no place in the news story. This does not mean that literary devices must be abandoned in newspaper writing or that newspaper style is bald and unattractive. News stories demand all the literary ability that the reporter possesses, for besides presenting the news clearly they must be interesting and attractive. Effectiveness in a simple style lies in that choice and arrangement of words which enables the reader to get the meaning with the least effort and the greatest interest.

Conciseness. Conciseness is the second essential of the style of the news story. This, again, does not mean that only the bare skeleton of news is required, for good news stories are clothed with flesh and blood to make them real and to give them human interest. Conciseness demands that not a single needless word shall be used, that every detail shall be necessary for the effectiveness of presentation, and that the length of the story shall be exactly proportionate to its interest and to its news value. If the reporter tests the value of each detail and can give a good reason for using it, he will not go far wrong as to the length of his story. If he can give an equally good reason for every word that he uses, his style is likely to have the desired conciseness.

Originality. Originality of expression in newspaper work is the quality that distinguishes the good writer from the fair and the mediocre ones. Constant rapid writing on similar subjects leads to the use of the same words and phrases over and over again. Trite, hackneyed expressions can be used with less effort and greater rapidity than is required to find new and fresh[Pg 63] phrases, unless the writer has accustomed himself to think clearly and accurately in concrete, specific terms. The only way that the newspaper writer can make his work rise above the level of the average is by seeing more in persons and events than does the ordinary reporter and by expressing what he sees with greater freshness and individuality. The classic bit of advice given by Flaubert to De Maupassant, the French master of the short story, is of the greatest value to the newspaper reporter who would cultivate in his style both conciseness and originality. It is in part as follows:

Typographical “Style.” For such details of typographical “style” as capitalization, abbreviation, hyphenation, and use of numerical figures, every newspaper has a set of special rules, generally printed in a so-called “style book,” that are invariably followed by copy-readers and compositors. When a reporter begins work on a newspaper, he should study carefully all these peculiarities, so that he may follow them in preparing his copy. He also should learn as quickly as possible the paper’s printed style rules, or, if there are no printed rules, he should study the news stories as examples of the practice followed in the office. Some newspapers have an “index expurgatorius,” or list of words and[Pg 64] phrases to be avoided. These “don’ts” generally embody common errors of diction, but they not infrequently include also some pet aversions of the editor-in-chief, the managing editor, or the city editor, that are matters of preference rather than of good usage. Reporters will do well to observe carefully how their stories are changed by editors and copy-readers, and in all matters of style should make their work conform to the preferences of their superiors.

Paragraph Length. One of the distinctive peculiarities of newspaper style is the brevity of the paragraph. The width of newspaper columns permits about seven words in a line. The result is that a paragraph of the length usual in prose style generally, i.e., from 150 to 250 words, would occupy from 20 to 35 lines and would appear disproportionately long for its width. Paragraphs that are long, or appear to be so, make a piece of writing look solid and heavy, hence uninviting to the rapid reader. In newspaper work, accordingly, it has come to be recognized that shorter paragraphs are more effective. Paragraphs of from 50 to 150 words are considered the normal type for newspaper writing.

This means that often a paragraph, and particularly the first paragraph of a news story, consists of but one sentence. Paragraphs of two or three sentences are very frequent. A comparison of the structure of these short paragraphs with that of paragraphs in other kinds of prose, shows that what would be subdivisions, each with a sub-topic, in the common type of longer paragraphs, become independent paragraphs in newspaper style. The unity of the newspaper paragraph, therefore, is not less marked because of its brevity.

Sentence Length. Journalistic style has sometimes been said to be characterized by short, disconnected sentences that produce a choppy, staccato effect.[Pg 65] Kipling, for example, is often described as “journalistic” in his abrupt short-sentence style. As a matter of fact the style of the American news story is marked neither by distinctly short sentences nor by particularly abrupt transitions. The sentences in news stories, on the whole, are as long as those in modern English prose generally. The first sentence of the story, which gives the gist of the news contained, is many times from 50 to 75 words in length, and is therefore to be classed as decidedly long.

Emphatic Beginnings. The emphasis given by initial position is especially important in news stories. The beginning rather than the end is the most emphatic position. The reason is obvious. As the eye glances down the column in reading rapidly, the first group of words in each paragraph stands out prominently. Any climactic effect with the strongest emphasis at the end is lost to the rapid reader unless he follows the development of the thought from sentence to sentence to the close of the paragraph. The important element if placed at the end of a long sentence, likewise, loses its emphasis for a rapid reader.

This principle of emphasis at the beginning determines the structure of the news story. Into the first paragraph, as the place of greatest prominence, is put the most important part of the news. Into the first group of words of the first sentence of each paragraph is placed, if possible, the most significant idea of the paragraph. The least important details go to the latter part of the story, so that unless the reader is particularly interested he need not follow through the account to the end; and so that, if necessary, parts may be cut off entirely without causing any loss that will be evident. The fitting together into columns of stories of different lengths after they are in type often requires[Pg 66] that the last paragraph or paragraphs be cut off. This possibility adds to the importance of putting the least significant elements into the latter part of the story, and of concentrating the essentials at the beginning. It also requires that each paragraph be so rounded that it may serve as the end of the story if those following it have to be thrown away.

The “Lead.” The beginning, or “lead,” of the story is the part that requires the greatest skill in the choice, the arrangement, and the expression of the essential elements of the piece of news. Nowhere is it truer than in the news story that “Well begun is half done.” In the typical “lead” the reporter gives the reader in clear, concise, yet interesting form the gist of the whole story, emphasizing, or “playing up,” the “feature” of it that is most attractive. The “lead,” as the substance of the story, should tell the reader the nature of the event, the persons or things concerned, as well as the time, the place, the cause, and the result. These essential points are given in answer to the questions: What? Who? When? Where? Why? How?

The “lead” may consist of one paragraph or of several paragraphs according to the number and complexity of the details in the story. For short stories a one-paragraph “lead” consisting of a single sentence is often sufficient, because the gist of the news can be given in from 30 to 75 words. For a long, complex story consisting of several parts, each under a separate heading, an independent lead of a number of paragraphs may be written as a general introduction to the different parts. Usually, however, the lead is an integral part of the story, giving the substance of the news in a paragraph or two, in such form that all the rest of the story may be cut off without depriving the reader of any essential point.

[Pg 67]

“Playing up the Feature.” Before the reporter begins to write, he must determine what is the most significant and interesting phase of his piece of news; in other words, the “feature” of it. It is this phase that must be emphasized, “played up” or “featured,” as newspaper men say. As the “feature” of a piece of news is the most interesting phase of it, the reporter must apply to his raw materials of fact the tests of news values discussed in Chapter II. The element of his news, therefore, that will be of greatest interest to the greatest number as measured by these tests, he should select as the “feature.” In addition to the “feature” he must present all the important facts that are necessary to make clear the “feature” and its relation to the rest of the news of which it is a part.

In accordance with the principle of emphasis at the beginning of the paragraph, the “feature” of the story should be placed in the first group of words of the opening sentence of the lead. Although any of the essential points may be “played up,” some are less likely than others to deserve that emphasis. The time of the event, for example, is generally not a significant point in the story, and therefore stories should seldom begin with “Early this morning,” “At two o’clock this afternoon,” “Yesterday,” or similar unimportant phrases. Occasionally the exact hour of some action, such as the adjournment of Congress or of the state legislature, which has been anticipated but could not be definitely fixed in advance, has enough interest to warrant giving it the initial position in the lead. The names of persons should not be placed at the beginning unless they are sufficiently prominent to deserve this emphasis. When a man is not known to a number of readers, his name is of less interest than details of the news in which he is involved. Names of prominent persons, on the other hand, attract[Pg 68] the desired attention at the beginning of the story. The place of the event is generally indicated by the date line in telegraph news, and is not played up in local news stories except in unusual cases. News stories should not begin with “At 116 Western Avenue,” “In the lobby of the Manhattan Theatre,” “On the corner of Williams and Chestnut streets,” “Near the New York Central Station,” for rarely is the exact location the most important point. Peculiar or important causes, results, or circumstances are likely to be the best features, because, as has been said, unusual, curious, new phases of activities have the greatest interest for most readers. How each of the different essential elements of the lead may be given emphasis in the initial position is shown in the following examples:

The Time

The Place

The Name

The Event

[Pg 69]

The Cause

The Result

The Significant Circumstance

How to Begin. The grammatical form in which the feature is presented in the first group of words of the lead varies according to the character of the point to be emphasized. Some of the convenient types of beginning are: (1) the subject of the sentence, (2) a participial phrase, (3) a prepositional phrase, (4) an infinitive phrase, (5) a dependent clause, (6) a substantive clause, and (7) a direct quotation.

The subject of the sentence frequently contains the most telling idea of the lead and therefore occupies the emphatic position at the beginning, as in the following stories:

[Pg 70]

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

A participial phrase, as the first group of words, is often a convenient form in which to “play up” a significant feature. The participle must always modify the subject of the sentence. The “hanging” or “dangling” participle which does not modify the subject, and the participle used substantively as the subject, are faults to be avoided. The effective use of the participial phrase is shown in the following leads:—

(1)

[Pg 71]

(2)

(3)

(4)

Prepositional phrases, either adjective or adverbial, may be used to bring out an emphatic detail; for example:

(1)

(2)

(3)

[Pg 72]

Infinitive phrases may be employed to advantage, as in the following cases:

(1)

(2)

Causal, concessive, conditional, and temporal clauses at the beginning of a story make possible the desired emphasis in an effective form; for example:

(1)

(2)

(3)

[Pg 73]

(4)

A substantive clause as subject of the first sentence of the story is often convenient, particularly for an indirect quotation in reports of speeches, interviews, testimony, etc. The different forms available are shown in the following leads:

(1)

(2)

(3)

[Pg 74]

A direct quotation at the beginning is the means of getting before the reader at once the important statement of a speech, report, interview, confession, etc. The following examples and those given in the discussion of reports of speeches and interviews in Chapter VI illustrate the effective use of the quotation.

(1)

(2)

Beginnings to be Avoided. The rule that a news story should never begin with the articles “a,” “an,” or “the,” is neither supported by actual newspaper practice nor based on entirely sound principles. Good emphasis at the beginning is what such a rule strives to secure and in so far as it calls attention to the desirability of beginning the story with an important word in place of an article, it is justified. Often, however, in order to get the most significant element into the first group of words it is absolutely necessary to use one of the articles. Sometimes an article is unnecessary before the noun at the beginning; for example: “Fire destroyed,” etc., is more concise than, “A fire destroyed,” etc., and, “Government ownership of telegraph lines was urged,” than, “The government ownership of telegraph lines was urged.”

[Pg 75]

Numerical figures should not be used at the beginning of any sentence in a news story. To avoid putting the figures first when round numbers are given, such forms may be used as, “About 250 students,” “Over 1,200 chickens,” “Nearly 750 gallons of milk.” If it is considered desirable to have numbers at the very beginning, they may be spelled out, thus: “Three thousand citizens greeted,” etc., “Two hundred pounds of candy were strewn along Broadway,” etc.

Explanatory Matter. In the lead of all stories of events that are closely associated with preceding events, such as “follow-up” stories, it is customary to give briefly sufficient explanatory information to make the event described clear in its relations to the earlier ones. This is necessary because readers may have overlooked the stories of the preceding occurrences. An explanatory phrase or clause is generally sufficient, but sometimes a whole sentence is necessary.

Unconventional Leads. In place of the usual summary lead containing all the essential points of the event, some stories begin with the particulars leading up to the event and thus keep the reader in suspense as to the nature and result of the happening until he has read the greater part of the story. These stories in their structure approximate fictitious narratives such as the short story. Various forms of beginnings that depart from the normal summary lead are illustrated by the following examples:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Another example of this type of story that follows the chronological order instead of beginning with a summary of the facts, is the following from the New York Sun, in which it was printed at the top of a column on the first page:

Originality in the treatment of the ordinary material of a news story is illustrated in the following beginning of a report of a conference on rural problems.

How a bit of police court news may be worked up into a story the lead of which piques the reader’s curiosity, is shown in the following story from the New York Sun:

Another example of an opening that stimulates the reader’s desire to know more of an unusual incident is seen in the following story:

Distinctive beginnings which are also calculated to attract attention by reason of the question form are shown in the following stories taken from the Chicago Tribune:

(1)

(2)

(3)

A type of lead that has some vogue has a very short first sentence that usually states the most significant fact in the story. This short statement may be followed by a longer explanatory one that contains the other essential details, or by a series of short sentences each of which contains an important detail. This kind of lead is in reality only the breaking up of the long one-sentence lead containing all the essentials, into two or more shorter sentences. Greater emphasis is thus gained for the particulars set off in the short sentences. Examples of these leads are:

(1)

(2)

In the less conventional types of leads, various beginnings are used, often to excellent advantage, for novelty and variety. The two examples given below show some marked departures from the usual kinds of beginnings.

(1)

(2)

“Boxed” Summaries. To give greater prominence to interesting statistics, summaries, excerpts, and lists than is possible in the lead, these facts are often put before the regular lead, usually surrounded by a frame or “box,” and printed in black face type. Although this arrangement is determined by the editors and copy readers, the reporter may select and group significant facts in such a way that those who edit his copy can readily mark them to be “boxed” and set in the desired kind of type. Lists of dead and injured in accidents; telling statements from speeches, reports, or testimony; statistics of interest; summaries of facts; and brief histories of events connected with the news story at hand, are frequently treated in this way. If not placed before the lead, these “boxed” facts are put at a convenient place in the body of the story. Brief bulletins, likewise, containing the latest news are often “boxed” and set in heavier type.

(1)

(2)

(3)

[Pg 88]

(4)

The Body of the Story. Following the lead is the body of the story, which generally consists of a more or less detailed account of the event. The main part of the report usually presents the incidents in the order in which they took place. In choice and arrangement of particulars, therefore, it does not differ from narration in general. As in all narration, so in news stories, it is essential to pick out those particulars that are most interesting and most significant in relation to the feature of the news. If the details are arranged in chronological order and this order is made evident by means of connective words and phrases, the reader can follow the account easily from beginning to end.

All of the methods used by writers of fiction to make[Pg 89] short stories and novels realistic and attractive may be applied to the writing of news. Concise descriptive touches that suggest the picture rather than portray it by detailed description, are always effective. Accounts of eye-witnesses, exclamations and remarks made by the bystanders, comments by those concerned, dialogue between persons involved, when given in the form of direct quotations, all add to the life and interest of the story. Every legitimate literary device can be used to advantage in the writing of the day’s news, provided that it does not require too much space, for above everything else the news story must be concise.

Good emphasis at the beginning of each paragraph should always be sought, because in rapid reading, as has already been pointed out, the eye catches first the initial group of words at each indention. Unimportant connective phrases and clauses should seldom be given this position of prominence, but should be buried in the sentence. The emphasis at the end of each paragraph in the news story is not great and can therefore be disregarded. Although each paragraph need not end emphatically, it should be rounded out to give the effect of completeness.

The organization of details in the body of a story is shown in the account of a train robbery given below:

When a story covers considerable time because the incidents leading up to the principal event took place a week or more before, care must be taken to keep the time element before the readers in order to make the series of incidents clear in their relation to one another. The following story shows the arrangement of material in such a story:

SUGGESTIONS

1. Write legibly; use a typewriter whenever possible.
2. Double or triple space your typewritten or longhand copy.
3. Never write on both sides of the sheet.
4. Make your meaning absolutely clear to the rapid reader.
5. Be concise; don’t use needless words.
6. Use superlatives sparingly.
7. Find the one noun to express the idea, the one adjective, if necessary, to qualify it, and the one verb needed to give it life.
8. Get life and action into your story whenever circumstances warrant.
9. Use original expressions; avoid trite and hackneyed phrases.[Pg 94]
10. Remember that every one of your mistakes adds to the work of your superiors.
11. Study and follow the peculiarities of the style of your paper.
12. Make your paragraphs short and concise.
13. Avoid choppy, disconnected short sentences.
14. Don’t overload the first sentence by elaborating on the essential points.
15. Select the most interesting phase of the news as the “feature” of the story.
16. Put the “feature” in the first group of words at the beginning of the lead.
17. Answer satisfactorily in the “lead” the questions—Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?
18. Seldom “play up” the time or place as the feature.
19. Avoid the hanging, or dangling, participle, particularly at the beginning of the lead.
20. Don’t put important particulars of the story in the last paragraphs where they may be cut off in the “make-up.”
21. Avoid beginning successive paragraphs with the same phrase or construction.
22. Use an unconventional form of “lead” when the news justifies it.
23. Tabulate on a separate sheet significant statistics, lists, excerpts, or summaries, so that they may be “boxed.”
24. Don’t suppress news; refer all requests for such suppression to your superiors.
25. Put the mark (#), or the figures 30 enclosed in a circle, at the end of every story.

PRACTICE WORK

(1) Point out the faults in the following story and correct them by rewriting it.

(2) What are the faults in the following story printed in a weekly paper, and how should they be corrected in rewriting?

(3) What is the weakness of the following story and how could you improve it by rewriting?

[Pg 96]

(4) Play up the unusual element in this story by putting it in the first group of words.

(5) Compare the leads of the two following stories of the same event, pointing out their merits and defects; then write a new lead embodying the best points of each.

(1)

(2)

[Pg 97]

(6) Criticize the following story and rewrite it in accordance with your criticism.

(7) From the following account, as given by an eye-witness, write a news story for a local daily paper.

(8) Compare these three stories in regard to the effectiveness of the introductory statement.

(1)

(2)

(3)

[Pg 100]

(9) Analyze the treatment of material in the second story below and compare it with that in the first.

(1)

(2)

NEWS STORIES OF UNEXPECTED OCCURRENCES

Kinds of Occurrences. Reports of unexpected occurrences of various kinds may be taken as typical of news stories generally. Fires, railroad and trolley wrecks, mine and tunnel accidents, floods and storms, marine disasters, explosions, runaways, automobile accidents, etc., form one large group of events in this class. Murders, suicides, robberies, embezzlements, and all other crimes constitute the second important division. The application to each of these groups of the principles of structure and style discussed in the preceding chapter will be considered separately.

Fires and Accidents. In news stories of fires and accidents, the number of lives lost or endangered, the character and extent of the damage, and the cause are the features in which readers are most interested. Lists of the killed or injured are always included in local stories, and should be sent in telegraph stories when the persons are known in communities in which the newspaper circulates. The names, the addresses, the occupations or business connections, and often the age of persons killed, are given, and the same details are reported for the seriously hurt, as well as the extent of the injuries and the hospital to which each person is taken. The form in which such lists are arranged is shown in the explanation of “boxed” lists (pages 86–88). The extent and the character of the damage caused by a disaster are important, particularly when the amount or the area affected is large. Curious and unusual causes and results, remarkable escapes, pathetic or humorous incidents,[Pg 102] and novel circumstances generally are frequently “played up,” particularly in telegraph stories of occurrences in which the persons involved are known only locally. In such cases the peculiar circumstances are the only reason for publishing the stories outside of the community in which the events happen. Unusual incidents are also good in the lead of local stories when the other phases are not more important.

The chief considerations in writing the body of news stories of unexpected occurrences are to select and emphasize important details, to eliminate or subordinate minor ones, and to connect firmly the different parts of the narrative. Whether the reporter is limited to a given number of words or is instructed to write as much as the news is worth, he must choose and reject particulars with great care, remembering always that what he retains must be so arranged that to the rapid reader the relation of one part to another will be perfectly clear. In a complex story with a series of incidents taking place simultaneously, different threads of narrative must be woven together skillfully to make it evident how the several incidents took place at the same time.

Greater life, action, and interest can always be given to accounts of fires, accidents, and disasters that cause loss of life, by giving in direct quotations the accounts of eye-witnesses and survivors. When the magnitude of the catastrophe warrants it, every effort is made to get interviews and statements from persons involved. Conversation between those concerned in the event can sometimes be used effectively. Every form of direct quotation gives variety and interest to the news story and is therefore an excellent method to use.

In the excitement naturally produced by the news of a disaster, many rumors quickly gain currency. The first estimates of the number of lives lost or endangered[Pg 103] and of the extent of the damage are frequently too large. The young reporter must not let himself be carried away by wild reports, and should discount liberally these estimates. By keeping calm no matter how great the catastrophe and attendant excitement, he not only can judge the more accurately of the character of the information that he gets from others, but he inspires a certain amount of calmness in those from whom he is getting his information and thus secures the facts more accurately. He should not accept reports of a disaster without question and investigation, or if it is impossible to investigate them, he should give them as rumors and not as facts. To magnify a catastrophe often means to cause needless anxiety to many whose relatives or friends may be involved in it. As in all reporting, a simple narrative, picturing clearly, accurately, and interestingly the unexpected occurrence, is the best news story.

The Lead of the Fire Story. Because accounts of fires involve all the points to be considered in the average news story, they are taken as typical of the whole group of accidental occurrences. In fire stories the feature to be “played up” may be, (1) the cause, (2) the extent of the damage, (3) the danger to surrounding property, (4) the number of lives endangered or lost, (5) prominent persons or places involved, or (6) any unusual incident or phase. The following examples illustrate methods of giving prominence to each of the significant details at the beginning of the lead.

Cause

(1)

[Pg 104]

(2)

(3)

Damage and Danger

(1)

(2)

(3)

Lives Lost or Endangered

(1)

[Pg 105]

(2)

(3)

(4)

Persons and Places

(1)

(2)

(3)

[Pg 106]

Unusual Circumstances

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Fire Stories. After the lead has been completed, the main part of the story remains to be written. The structure of the body of the story offers no particular difficulties in arrangement as the incidents usually follow each other in the order of time. In the account of a fire, it is usual, after the lead, to give the facts concerning the discovery of the fire, the sounding of the alarm, the arrival of the fire department, the progress of the fire, and the different incidents, with little or no variation from chronological order.

[Pg 107]

How a fire story is arranged is shown in the following example:

Stories of Accidents. News stories of accidents are constructed on the same plan as those of fires, and the features are practically the same. The story of the accident in the subway (page 41) and the following one may be taken as typical reports of accidents.

Stories of Crime. Accounts of crime, or “police news stories,” are constructed on practically the same principles as those of fires and accidents. In all crimes in which human lives are destroyed or endangered, the essential points are the names of the persons involved, the nature of the crime, its cause, its results, and, if the perpetrator escapes, clues to his identity and whereabouts. In murders, attempted murders, suicides, and defalcations, the motives for the crime are always matters of great interest. The value of what was stolen or what might have been stolen should be given in reports of robberies or embezzlements. Ingenious methods used to gain entrance to places robbed make interesting features. In defalcation or fraud peculiar means of deception employed may be “played up.” The “human interest” in the accused or the victim must not be overlooked in crime stories. When[Pg 111] either individual is well known, his name is the important “feature.”

The reporter must always remember that a person charged with a crime is not a criminal until he is proved guilty in court. Unless he confesses, the person charged with crime is presumed to be innocent until convicted. In writing police stories, therefore, the reporter should always make it plain that the person involved is “charged” with a crime, and that he is “alleged,” or “said,” by the police to be guilty. While he is charged with the crime, he may be said to be, not “the murderer,” but “the alleged murderer”; or not “the embezzler,” but “the alleged embezzler.” The reporter should present both sides of the case by giving the prisoner’s version, as well as that of the police, not only because it is just to do so but because it is usually good news.

Stories of crime, like all other news stories, should be told in a simple, direct style that presents in an accurate and interesting manner the account of the crime as it was actually committed. Exaggerated and sensational stories of crime or those in which attempts are made to arouse sentiment for or against the perpetrator or his victim, have no place in the news columns of reputable newspapers. If readers are to be appealed to to right a wrong, such appeals should be made in the editorial columns and should not be allowed to color the facts in the news stories. The actual facts truthfully presented make the best possible appeal. To try, in the newspapers, a person accused of crime, before or during his legal trial, is not to give him the fair trial to which he is entitled.

The way in which various phases of crime may be “featured” in the lead without making the story in any way sensational is shown by the following examples,[Pg 112] in which some interesting or extraordinary phase of the crime is put in the emphatic position at the beginning of the story.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

[Pg 113]

(6)

(7)

(8)

The following story of a robbery shows how various details are grouped in the lead and in the body of the story:

SUGGESTIONS

1. Find an interesting “feature” in every unexpected occurrence.
2. Give all the facts and stick to them.
3. Don’t be carried away by wild reports; investigate every rumor.
4. Keep cool, no matter how great the disaster.
5. Don’t overestimate the extent of the damage and the number of persons killed or injured.
6. Remember that not all persons who appear in the news are necessarily “prominent” or “well known.”
7. Avoid describing persons or property as “endangered” or “threatened” when they are not actually in danger.
8. Don’t overload your story with minor details.
9. Give life and action by using direct quotation whenever it is appropriate.
10. Include verbatim accounts of eye-witnesses or survivors in big disasters.
11. Make clear to the rapid reader the exact relation of all incidents to the principal event.
12. Look for the motive in murders, suicides, embezzlements, and similar crimes.
13. See the “human interest” in police news.
14. Don’t call an accused person a criminal unless he confesses or has been convicted of crime before.[Pg 116]
15. Don’t try criminal cases in your news stories; leave that to the court.
16. Give both sides; the accused as well as the accuser has a right to be heard.
17. Avoid predictions of “sensational developments” when they are not likely to occur.
18. Don’t put a “mystery” in your story when none exists.
19. Remember that the truth, and nothing but the truth, interestingly written, makes the best news story.

PRACTICE WORK

1. Criticise and rewrite the following fire story:

2. Analyze the following story; can you improve it by rewriting?

3. Are the essential facts presented most effectively in the “leads” of the following stories?

(1)

(2)

4. Rewrite the following story, giving it a summary lead and improving it in every possible way.

5. What are the faults in the following story, and how can you correct them?

6. Combine the later bulletin (1) with the first news story (2) in rewriting the following material.

(1)

(2)

7. What are the objections to the first paragraph as the beginning of the following story, and how can you improve it in rewriting?

SPEECHES, INTERVIEWS, AND TRIALS

Various Forms of Utterances. As news stories of speeches, sermons, lectures, official reports, and interviews, as well as of testimony, decisions, and arguments in trials and investigations, are concerned largely with direct or indirect quotation of written or spoken expression, the writing of them involves several elements that do not enter into the composition of the typical news story. In the types of news thus far considered, such as fires, accidents, and crime, the story was a narrative of what had happened. Although the facts were gleaned largely from observation and interviews, usually no person’s ideas or opinions were quoted. News stories of addresses, reports, or similar documents, interviews and court trials, on the other hand, have only a small incidental narrative-descriptive element to present the circumstances under which the utterance was made. The large and important part of such stories consists of a reproduction in complete or condensed form of the original expression.

Verbatim Quotation. Direct verbatim quotations of all utterances are generally preferred for news stories, because they are exact reproductions of the originals. Whenever a copy of any of these forms of expression can be obtained, it is desirable for the reporter to get one either before or after the utterance is made, because of the accuracy of the quotation which a copy makes possible. Frequently copies of addresses, lectures, sermons, reports, decisions, and testimony can[Pg 127] be had, and exactness of reproduction is thus secured. When a copy cannot be obtained, the reporter is dependent upon himself to get the equivalent of it by taking down as nearly as possible a verbatim reproduction of such parts of the utterance as he desires.

Methods of Reporting Speeches. The two problems in reporting these various forms of oral or written expression are, how to get the exact words of the speakers, and how to condense long utterances effectively.

The body of news stories of speeches can often be written while the speaker talks, in what is called a “running story,” particularly when it is necessary for the reporter to have his copy ready for publication soon after the speaker finishes. In such cases the reporter picks out and combines into a connected verbatim report the most important statements, summarizing briefly the less important ones. To do this he depends on long-hand writing so that what he writes can be used as copy without being transcribed. If time permits, he may take notes during the address, sermon, or trial, and write up his story later. Short-hand, although occasionally convenient, is not commonly used by newspaper reporters, and very few of them can write it.

The greatest skill is required to condense all of these forms of expression within a comparatively limited space. A speech, for example, that in complete form would fill three columns must often be cut down to half a column; and a report that would fill a page often cannot be given more than three quarters of a column. To select and combine separate parts into a unified, coherent reproduction that is only one-fifth or one-tenth of the original, is no easy task. Despite this great condensation the news story must be an accurate presentation of all the important material in the original. When[Pg 128] a newspaper reporter or editor is satisfied to pick a few striking statements out of their context, and present them in a new combination, the result too often is that neither the spirit nor the substance of the original is accurately given; in fact, not infrequently the speakers’ ideas are completely, though often unintentionally, misrepresented.

“Playing Up” Misleading Statements. This distortion is often brought about by taking a striking sentence out of its context, in which it may be modified or explained, and by “playing it up” as a feature of the lead in a way that gives an entirely false or very misleading impression of the speaker and his utterance. The accuracy of the quotation under such circumstances does not justify the inaccuracy of the effect produced. Nor does the supposed news value of a striking but misleading quotation at the beginning of the lead justify the misrepresentation involved. Unless when taken from its context a quotation, direct or indirect, gives accurately not only the expression but the point of view and spirit of the original, it should not be used. Generally, by means of some connective or explanatory matter, such a quotation can be made to represent the original accurately. Great care should be taken not to give a wrong impression in the lead.

How to Begin the Lead. In news stories of speeches, lectures, and sermons, or of reports and similar documents, eight different forms for the beginning of the lead may be suggested: (1) a direct quotation of one sentence; (2) a direct quotation of one paragraph; (3) an indirect quotation of one statement; (4) an indirect quotation of several statements; (5) the keynote; (6) the title quoted; (7) the name of the speaker; and (8) the conditions under which the utterance was made. The reporter should choose the form[Pg 129] best suited to the subject, the substance, and the occasion of the speech or report.

The single sentence quotation, as in the following form, should be used when the thought or expression which it contains is the most significant feature:

The paragraph of direct quotation is necessary when the most important point of the speech is not expressed in a single sentence but requires several connected sentences, or when the single sentence is sufficiently long to fill a whole paragraph, thus:

(1)

[Pg 130]

(2)

The indirect quotation is of advantage when it is not possible or convenient to give a direct quotation, and when it is desirable to give the most important point at the beginning of the lead; for example:

The main points in a report or speech may be effectively summarized in several indirect quotations at the beginning of the story, but the separate clauses must not be too long or complicated in structure. The following examples show how these indirect quotations can be used:

[Pg 131]

(1)

(2)

The keynote beginning gives the dominant idea that runs through the whole utterance, thus:

(1)

(2)

When the subject is stated in a particularly novel or interesting form it may be the best feature of the story and should accordingly be in the lead. For example:

[Pg 132]

The prominence of the speaker or author of the report frequently justifies the placing of his name at the beginning, thus:

(1)

(2)

Unusual or significant conditions under which the address was delivered, or the report made, may become the “feature” and may be played up, as in these stories:

(1)

(2)

The Body of the Story. Whatever form of lead is used for speeches, reports, or interviews, the body of the story generally consists of paragraphs of direct[Pg 133] verbatim quotations, combined often with summarizing paragraphs. As the interest lies not only in what a man says but also in the way he says it, verbatim quotations are usually preferred to indirect ones. It is frequently necessary to condense speeches and reports so much that large portions must either be omitted or be briefly summarized. It is desirable, as far as possible, to avoid combining in the same paragraphs both direct and indirect quotations, or both direct quotations and summarizing statements.

In paragraphs of direct quotation it is often necessary to insert explanatory phrases, such as, “said Mr. White,” “declared the speaker,” “the report continues,” “explained Mr. White in conclusion,” “the report concludes,” etc., but such phrases should be buried in an unemphatic position in the first sentence of the paragraph. Paragraphs of direct quotation should not begin with such unemphatic phrases as, “Mr. Blank continued by saying, etc.,” “The speaker then said,” “The report continues.” It is likewise ineffective to begin with phrases like, “I believe,” “I feel sure,” “I think,” “I know.” The newspaper reader will take for granted that what the speaker says is what he “thinks,” “believes,” “knows,” or “is sure of,” and the reporter, therefore, may omit these needless phrases entirely or may put them in a less prominent place. Instead of beginning a paragraph with,

it is preferable to omit entirely the phrase “I believe,” or else to put the quotation in the following form:

[Pg 134]

In paragraphs of indirect quotations or of summaries, it is as necessary to use explanatory phrases as in those of direct quotations, and this explanatory matter should be put in unemphatic positions. The form of the phrases should be varied as much as possible so that the repetition will not be evident. Among the active verbs that may be used in explanatory matter are: “say,” “point out,” “show,” “declare,” “explain,” “insist,” “ask,” “advocate,” “demand,” “continue,” “conclude.” Passive forms include: “considered,” “discussed,” “given,” “described,” “demonstrated.” It must always be made plain by these and other means that all matter not quoted directly gives the substance of the speech or report.

When the body of the story consists of a series of direct quotations, these paragraphs are introduced by such phrases as: “He said in part,” “He spoke in part as follows,” “The report in brief follows,” “His address in full is as follows,” or “The complete report follows.” Such introductory statements end with a colon, and usually stand alone as a separate paragraph. In a continuous quotation extending through several paragraphs, quotation marks are placed at the beginning of each paragraph but at the end of only the last paragraph of the quotation. Quotations within quotations are set off by single quotation marks, and quotations within quotations within quotations by double marks.

It is not always necessary to arrange the matter in the body of the story so that it will follow the exact order in which it was given in the original. When the lead presents the most important statement, the following paragraphs frequently explain or amplify this statement, and then other parts of the speech follow, although in the original they may have preceded. In[Pg 135] rearranging the order of quotations, care should be taken to establish close connection between them and to avoid misrepresenting the thought or spirit of the original. How a long speech is given in brief form partly by direct quotation, partly by indirect quotation, and partly by summarizing statements, is shown in the following example:

How to Combine a Series of Speeches. In reporting meetings it is frequently desirable to give indirect or direct quotations from the remarks of the speakers. When several speakers are quoted, the speaker’s name is put at or near the beginning of the paragraph in which he is quoted, so that in a rapid reading of the report, the eye catches at once the change from the words of one speaker to those of[Pg 137] another. The following report of a convention illustrates the method of handling a series of quotations, as well as the manner of giving fairly both sides in a debate:

The Form of the Interview. The interview, as a statement made to one man, the reporter, instead of to a number of persons, as in the case of a speech, may have practically the same kind of beginning as the address or report. Owing to the interest in the man interviewed, his name frequently begins the story, but as what he says is likewise of value, some form of beginning that gives his opinions can also be used advantageously. Although in an interview all of the information is obtained from the person interviewed in response to the reporter’s questions, it is not necessary or generally desirable to include these questions in the written story of the interview. Readers are interested in the statements of the person interviewed, not in the reporter’s questions or actions. When a man refuses to give any information by declaring in response to questions that he has nothing to say, it may be desirable as a matter of news to give the reporter’s questions and the man’s non-committal answers. Generally, however, neither the reporter nor his questions and remarks are given a place in the story of an interview. The following examples illustrate the application to interviews of some of the forms suggested for speeches and reports:

(1)

(2)

Combining Several Interviews. When a number of interviews are included in one story, the lead usually presents the consensus of opinions given, and explains or summarizes the results. The separate interviews may be combined in one of several ways. Not infrequently the name of the person expressing the opinion is put at the beginning of the paragraph and is followed by the quotation. In other cases the quotation for each person[Pg 141] is put first in the paragraph, and the explanatory matter follows at the end of the first sentence. The following examples illustrate both forms:

(1)

(2)

(3)

News Stories of Trials. In trials in court the reporter has to deal with material not unlike that in speeches, reports, or interviews. The arguments by the attorneys are in the nature of addresses. The questioning of the witnesses on direct and cross examination is not unlike the question and answer method of interviewing. The decisions handed down by the judges are the reports which those officials make. In general, then, many of the same points that have been considered in regard to addresses, reports, and interviews may be applied to court reports.

Writing the Lead. What the lead of the trial story[Pg 145] should contain is determined by the status of the case in court. If a verdict or decision is rendered, that news is naturally the feature. If the trial is not completed, either the most significant testimony or the net result of the day’s proceedings may be made the feature. As the trial goes on from day to day, it is necessary to explain briefly in each story, usually in the lead, what the case deals with, who the parties are, and before whom and where the trial is being conducted, so that the situation will be clear to readers who have not seen the preceding stories of the trial. The reporter must not take for granted that, because all this information was given once when the accused person was arrested, or when the trial was begun, he need not give his readers information every day as to the essential elements of persons, time, place, cause, result, etc. Each of these essentials, as in other stories, may be the feature of the lead. When, for example, a jury has been deliberating for a long time in an interesting case, the exact time at which they reached their verdict may be placed in the first group of words, before the verdict itself.

Hearings before committees of legislative bodies that are getting information and arguments from men for and against proposed legislation, and the taking of testimony by investigating committees, partake so nearly of the nature of trials that the forms and methods of the one apply to the other with little or no modification.

Various forms of leads for reports of trials, hearings, and investigations, given below, show some of the possibilities.

(1)

[Pg 146]

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

[Pg 147]

(6)

(7)

Forms for Testimony. The bodies of stories of trials and investigations, like those of speeches and reports, consist of direct quotations of the most significant testimony or arguments, with indirect quotations or summaries of other parts not worth quoting verbatim. The same general principles apply, except when it is necessary to give question and answer in direct or cross examination of witnesses in order to bring out significant points. Several forms are used for verbatim reports of such testimony. Sometimes, particularly in New York papers, the attorney’s questions are preceded by the letter “Q” and the witness’s answers by the letter “A,” each question with its answer constituting a separate paragraph. More commonly, the questions and answers[Pg 148] are given in dialogue form as in short stories and novels, with the question followed by the explanatory material in one paragraph, and the answer with necessary explanatory material in another paragraph.

Occasionally, if on direct examination a witness’s testimony, although interrupted by questions, is fairly continuous, the questions may be omitted, and the story told by the witness can thus be given uninterruptedly. When the facts of the testimony rather than the form of it are sufficient, these facts may be given without using either direct or indirect quotations.

How the several forms of reporting testimony appear in newspapers is shown by the following examples which are taken from the body of the story, the leads being omitted here:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Court Decisions. The body of reports of important court decisions consists of summaries of the decisions with explanation of their significance, or of quotations from the decision when the language of the decree is important. The following stories are examples:

(1)

(2)

Applications for writs, rehearings, and new trials are often worth reporting at some length, as is shown in the following story:

[Pg 153]

How to Make Court Proceedings Interesting. The selection and arrangement of interesting details in legal proceedings is shown in the following court story of a bankruptcy case, in which the reader’s attention is attracted by the feature played up at the beginning:

Quoting from Publications. Government publications, pamphlets, books, and magazines often contain material for good news stories, particularly when copies can be secured so that the story may be printed simultaneously with the publication of the book or magazine. The use that may be made of an article in a scientific publication is shown in the following story, which in form is like the stories of speeches and other utterances discussed above:

SUGGESTIONS

1. Get advance copies of speeches, statements, and reports when it is possible.
2. Give direct, verbatim quotations whenever they are effective.
3. Don’t misrepresent a speaker by “playing up” a quotation that, taken from its context, is misleading.
4. Combine excerpts into a coherent, unified story.
5. Select the form of beginning best suited to the subject matter.
6. Set off as a paragraph a direct quotation of more than one sentence at the beginning of a story.
7. Avoid too many or too involved “that” clauses in the lead.
8. Put strong direct or indirect quotations at beginnings of paragraphs.
9. Don’t place unemphatic phrases at the beginning of a paragraph, such as, “The speaker then said that,” etc.
10. Avoid as far as possible combinations of direct and indirect quotations in the same paragraph.
11. Avoid “I believe,” “I think,” etc., at the beginning of sentences of direct quotation.
12. Make separate paragraphs of introductory statements like “He said in part,” and end them with a colon.
13. Give in the lead of each day’s story of a trial, the essential explanatory details concerning the case.
14. Vary explanatory phrases; don’t use repeatedly in the same story “he said,” “the report continues,” etc.[Pg 156]
15. Don’t fail to enclose in quotation marks every direct quotation.
16. Use single quotation marks for quotations within other quotations.
17. Use quotation marks only at the beginning of each paragraph of a continuous quotation of several paragraphs and at the end of the last paragraph.
18. Quote important testimony verbatim.
19. Keep yourself out of your interviews.

PRACTICE WORK

1. Write a news story of 500 words on the following address by Senator William E. Borah of Idaho on “Why We Need an Income Tax,” which you may say was delivered before a large audience at the Auditorium last night under the auspices of the Progressive Republican Club:

2. Write a news story of 250 words on the following excerpts from a report made by the Division of Education of the Russell Sage Foundation on “A Comparative Study of Public School Systems in the Forty-eight States,” playing up the feature that you think will be of general interest to the readers of a daily paper in the metropolis of your state:

SPECIAL KINDS OF NEWS

Special News Fields. Although practically all kinds of news stories conform to the general principles explained and illustrated in preceding chapters, the application of these principles to particular kinds of news may be considered in detail. On all but small papers the gathering and the writing of news in such special fields as sports, society, and markets are regarded as sufficiently different in character from general reporting to warrant having special editors for these departments. Each of a number of special kinds of reporting requires more or less expert knowledge, which a reporter who specializes in that field acquires as a result of training and experience. Sometimes, however, a general reporter may be sent out to cover an athletic contest or a society event, and he should be prepared to do either successfully. Every reporter should familiarize himself with the best methods of handling all kinds of news.

Sporting News Stories. The constantly increasing importance attached by newspapers to news of sports, particularly to that of baseball, makes it important for reporters to know the peculiarities of sporting news stories. The reporting of athletic contests is not always an easy task even when the reporter is familiar with all the details of the sport. In a football game, for example, it is difficult to determine which of the players carries the ball or makes a tackle in a given play unless the reporter knows each player and can recognize him[Pg 162] quickly on the field. In baseball games the reporter must be able to keep a complete score from which to write his story and make his summary score. Quickness and accuracy of observation are essential in getting the facts correctly in any sporting event.

Reporting a Football Game. A football game affords a good opportunity for the student reporter to get excellent practice in covering an athletic contest. In preparing to report a game, he should get from the coach or the captain the correct line-up of each team and the names of the officials. If the line-up is written on a piece of cardboard and arranged so that the exact position of each player can be seen at a glance, the writer can refer to it constantly in reporting the plays. The way to arrange the line-up is shown below:

The reporter watches both teams carefully to see which men make each play, and as soon as the teams line up again, he notes the position that each of these men takes, so that he may identify them from his line-up card. As the game progresses he is able to recognize some of the players who repeatedly take prominent parts, and he need not refer to the line-up so frequently. The reporter may take notes on the plays as they are made, or, if it is necessary to mail or telegraph the story very soon after the game is over, he may write a running account as the game progresses, adding the lead after it is over.

In the choice and the arrangement of details, the story of a football game is not unlike other news stories. In the lead are placed the essential facts, which are[Pg 163] the result, the score, the causes of victory and defeat, the teams engaged, the time and place of the contest, and any important circumstances. Because every reader is most interested in the result, that fact is usually “played up” as the feature. Why one team lost and the other won, or why the score was tied, the second fact in point of interest, is likewise given a prominent place at the beginning of the lead. A characterization of the playing of each team, an account of how and when the scoring was done, mention of the work of star players, and a description of the crowd, the condition of the field, and the weather, are the other details which are put in the lead. Following the lead is the story of the game told in as much detail as the assignment requires. If a short account is desired, only the important plays are given; if a full report is wanted, every play is described. After each score is made, and at the end of the report of each quarter, the complete score up to that point is given. At the end of the story are placed the line-up, a summary of the plays, and the names of the officials. The story given below may be taken as typical:

[The detailed report of the other quarters follows,
and then the line-up is given.]

“Covering” a Baseball Game. The accepted methods of reporting baseball games and other athletic contests, and the form in which stories of them are written, are very similar to those described above for football. The example given below shows the application of the general principles to baseball:

The Style of Sporting News Stories. The style of sporting news stories is marked by the use of terms peculiar to the game or sport and often by the slang that is popular at the time, particularly the slang that is in vogue among those interested in each sport. Young reporters, and some older ones, too, seem to think that they can best prove their knowledge of sports by using in their stories as much as possible of the slang current among the professionals and their followers in the sport. On the other hand, some of the recognized authorities on sports write interesting and readable accounts of contests without indulging in such sporting slang. A number of sporting editors, in order to give variety to their daily reports of baseball games, have sought to coin new phrases and figures of speech, and the result has sometimes been so clever and amusing that these writers have established a considerable reputation for novelty of expression. Too frequently, however, the imitations of the work of the successful, clever few have not been effective, and consequently have not been so good as simple, direct reports. Originality of expression is as desirable in sporting news stories as it is elsewhere, but a style that is marked by little more than cheap humor and vulgar slang has nothing to commend it.

Society News. Society news is usually collected, written, and edited by the society editor, almost invariably a woman. In order to insure accuracy, facts for such stories should be obtained directly from those concerned in the event. Announcements of engagements[Pg 170] and of weddings, particularly, must never be accepted for publication unless furnished by the persons themselves or their families, as would-be practical jokers not infrequently undertake to make victims of their acquaintances by sending to newspapers false announcements of this kind. Some newspapers distribute printed forms to be filled out by those giving important social entertainments, and these are sent out several days in advance so that they may be returned in time and the facts correctly reported.

The form and style of news stories of many society events are determined to some extent by social usages. Those who desire to become society editors, and reporters generally, because they may be assigned to cover society events, should notice carefully how news of this sort is written up in society columns. The typographical style often differs from that of the other parts of the paper. The whole story of a wedding, reception, or other social event, in many papers is given in one paragraph, although it may consist of several hundred words. A concise story giving all the essential details, and avoiding trite expressions like “charming,” “beautiful,” and “tastily,” is the most acceptable one.

Conventional forms for such typical events as weddings, receptions, and announcements of engagements are given below:

Announcements of Engagements

(1)

[Pg 171]

(2)

Weddings

(1)

(2)

(3)

Luncheons, Receptions, Etc.

(1)

[Pg 173]

(2)

Club News

(1)

(2)

(3)

Banquets and Holiday Celebrations. News stories of banquets and of various forms of holiday celebrations are not usually put in the society columns and are not covered by the society editor. If at a banquet after-dinner speaking is the important part of the event, such portions of the speeches as are of great interest are given the most space. If the speaking is not a feature, a description is given of the occasion, and particularly of any interesting incidents or unusual circumstances. For stories of holiday celebrations, such as Christmas festivities, a general descriptive lead serves to introduce accounts of various forms of celebration by societies, at public institutions, and on the streets.

How such an event as a banquet may be written up at some length in an unconventional manner with enough life and interest to make it entertaining reading, is shown in the following news story taken from the New York Sun:

[Pg 178]

The following description of a newsboys’ Christmas “feast,” as reported in the New York Tribune, illustrates another type of work which the reporter is called upon to do:

Christmas and other holidays give occasion for accounts of various forms of celebration, of which the following story from the New York Evening Post is a good example:

Writing Obituaries. News stories of deaths, with the biographical sketch, or obituary, which usually accompanies such announcements in the case of men of more or less prominence, constitute another type that differs somewhat from general news stories. The essential facts for the lead are the name of the person, his position, his address, the cause of his death and the duration of his illness, the names of the members of his family that survive him, and any important circumstances connected with his death. The significance of his career, or an estimate of his life work, may often serve to connect the lead with the biography that follows. Every well organized newspaper office files biographies of well-known men of the city, state, or nation, when these are published in newspapers or magazines, or are furnished by news bureaus, so that they may be ready for instant use when an obituary is to be written. To this “morgue,” or “graveyard,” as it is called, the reporter or editor goes to get whatever material is on hand concerning the person whose obituary he is to write. “Who’s Who,” biographical dictionaries, city, county, and state histories, and other similar books of reference, furnish valuable data for biographies.

How a biographical sketch of a well-known man may be written up in the newspaper office when the news of his death is received, is shown in the following[Pg 184] story of Dr. Koch and his work, which appeared in the Boston Transcript:

The following obituary of a writer, though meagre in biographical detail, is well adapted to convey an impression of her personality and of the quality of her work. It appeared in the New York Sun.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Familiarize yourself with the form of all kinds of news stories.
2. Remember that neither slang nor cheap humor is essential to a good sporting news story.
3. Be fair in your characterization of the playing of each team.
4. Avoid elaborate descriptions in the average society news story.
5. Don’t use hackneyed phrases in reporting society news.
6. Be accurate in the biographical data of obituaries.

[Pg 191]

PRACTICE WORK

1. Criticize the following football story and rewrite it:

2. Compare the following two reports of weddings and rewrite the first:

(1)

(2)

FOLLOW UP AND REWRITE STORIES

News Possibilities. The possibilities contained in a piece of news are seldom completely exhausted by the first story published concerning it. Causes, results, and significant phases many times cannot be ascertained when the first story is written. New facts sometimes develop from hour to hour, and very frequently from day to day. It is the constant aim in newspaper making to give in each edition the latest possible phase of every important event. Accordingly, news stories must be rewritten or must be given new leads as often as the character of the latest news warrants it. A story is worth rewriting or following up as long as it is likely to be of interest to any considerable number of readers.

Even when it is evident that the first story contains all the significant facts and that additional details cannot be obtained, the first story may, nevertheless, have sufficient interest to deserve a rewriting by papers which have not as yet had an opportunity to publish the news that it contains. A new feature is sought for in the first story, and this feature, when played up in the rewritten story, gives it a new turn. New significance, likewise, may be given to the event in the rewritten story by looking at it from a different point of view or by showing its relation to other events. Probable causes, possible results, or striking coincidences may be “played up” as new features. Often the next development can be anticipated to bring the rewrite up to the time of going to press. Imagination[Pg 195] is necessary for success as a rewrite man, not in order to invent fictitious details, but to see the event in all its relations and to select the most significant of these for emphasis in rewriting.

Whether or not a story is worth “following up,” and how long it shall be “followed up,” as well as whether or not a story is worth rewriting, is determined by the newspaper man’s appreciation of news values. Editors must be keen and accurate judges of popular interest in current events to know when to continue to give space and prominence to developments of a piece of news and when to drop it.

The division of the twenty-four-hour day between morning and evening papers results in editors and reporters on papers of one of these groups depending, to some extent, on those in the other for part of the day’s round of news gathering. Consequently when the men on the evening papers begin work early in the morning, they read with great care all the morning papers, in order to find out what news has developed since the last edition of their papers went to press on the preceding day. The men on morning newspapers, likewise, scan every edition of the evening papers in order to watch the course of events during the day. This careful examination of newspapers is not confined to those of the city; papers published in other cities of the state or of adjacent states are gone over for any pieces of news that have local phases, or “local ends.” The reading of all these newspapers furnishes the editors with many stories that must be rewritten and brought up to the moment.

Rewriting. When news is to be rewritten without additional details, the stories clipped from other papers are turned over to rewrite men or to reporters to be put at once in a new form for publication. If the editor[Pg 196] desires more facts or later phases, he gives the clipping to a reporter, who, taking the first story as a basis, proceeds to get the desired additions before writing the new story. In either case the first thing to do is to study carefully the first story to see what it contains and what are its possibilities. Every bearing of the piece of news on past, present, and future events must be carefully considered. The importance of every possible relation should be weighed so that the most timely and most interesting feature may be given due prominence.

Because of the rapid judgments on news values and the hurried writing of news stories that newspaper making necessitates, the first story may not bring out at all or may not give prominence to what is in reality the most interesting aspect of the story, and it remains for the man who is rewriting the story to take advantage of this neglected opportunity. In his effort to tell all the details of the event itself, the reporter who wrote the first story may not have considered ulterior causes and motives or he may not have had time to see the event in its relation to other events. With the perspective that a few hours often gives, the rewrite man can judge more accurately of these elements and in the rewritten story can give them the emphasis that they deserve.

In the rewriting of stories where no more facts are available, the possibilities to be considered for the new lead are: (1) some feature entirely overlooked by the writer of the first story, (2) some element not given prominence in the first story, that may be made the feature, (3) the next probable consequence or development, (4) some cause or motive not suggested or emphasized in the first story, and (5) the relation of the piece of news to some previous or coincident one.

[Pg 197]

The rewriting with no new facts but with a new feature played up in the lead is illustrated in the following stories:

(1)

Lead in Evening Paper.

(2)

Lead of Rewritten Story in Morning
Paper of Following Day.

(1)

Lead of First Story in Evening Paper.

(2)

Lead of Rewrite Story in Morning
Paper on the Following Day.

Anticipating News in Rewriting. One of the simplest ways of bringing a story up to the time of the edition in which it is to appear in rewritten form, is to anticipate the probable result or the next development. In the morning editions of evening papers, particularly, much of the day’s news can be forecast and the news stories written accordingly. Persons arrested during the evening and night, for example, it is safe to say in advance, will have their cases considered in the police court the next morning. Accordingly, the fact[Pg 199] that a person will be charged in court with his offense “this morning” rather than the fact that he was arrested “last night,” constitutes the feature of the first morning edition of the afternoon paper. Stories of trials, conventions, investigations, legislative sessions, and other events extending over a number of days or weeks can often be given a new turn before anything new actually has been done by setting forth in the lead what is to be done. The early morning resumption of a search abandoned because of darkness the night before can be played up in the rewritten story of a drowning, disappearance, or similar occurrence. A midnight railroad wreck reported in a morning paper, it is safe to say in the morning editions of the afternoon papers, will be investigated by the railroad company and by inspectors of the state railroad commission in order to fix the responsibility. Conjectures as to his successor may be made a feature of a rewrite story following the announcement of the resignation of a public official. To look forward to what will happen is practically to give the news before it actually happens, and this can frequently be done.

How without any additional facts the next development of a piece of news may be anticipated and the time changed from “last night” to “this morning” is shown by the rewritten leads following:

(1)

Lead of First Story in Morning Paper.

[Pg 200]

(2)

Lead of Rewritten Story in First
Morning Edition of Evening Paper.

(1)

Lead of First Story in Morning Paper.

(2)

Lead of Rewritten Story in First
Morning Edition of Evening Paper.

Finding the Relation of Events. What seemed a single and isolated event when the first story was written may be seen to be part of a series of similar or related events by the time the story is to be rewritten, and this fact can be used as a new, interesting, and important phase of the rewritten story. Several[Pg 201] burglaries, as reported in the morning papers, may be found to have some peculiar details in common, and this fact may give rise to the conjecture, as the feature of the rewritten story, that they were the work of the same burglars. A local storm story when rewritten may have as a feature the extent of the storm as shown by telegraph stories received after the first story was written. A fire, the origin of which was unknown when the first story was written, may be connected with other recent fires that broke out under similar conditions, and the probability of all of them being the work of a “firebug” may be pointed out in the rewritten story. By seeking relations between events, the newspaper worker often finds important features for stories to be rewritten.

“Follow-up” Stories. In “follow-up” stories the gathering of new details is the first step necessary to rewriting. Not infrequently the latest details can be obtained by telephone, and the “follow-up” story can be written in the office in as short a time as a rewrite story that requires no additional facts. The condition of a victim of an accident, for example, may be ascertained by telephoning to his home or to the hospital where he was taken, and the facts thus obtained may be put at the very beginning of the “follow-up” story. More often the reporter must go out to get the latest developments of the event, just as he would for a first story. However obtained, the new particulars are the important ones to be emphasized in the lead.

Some of the different directions in which a story may be “followed up” are similar to those suggested for rewrite stories; they are: (1) causes and motives other than those given in the first story if these are uncertain or inadequate, (2) results and consequences[Pg 202] of the first piece of news, (3) interviews with prominent persons in regard to the event and its significance, (4) clues to the identity of unknown persons or to the unknown whereabouts of those who figured in the first news story.

Popular interest in the causes of fires, accidents, and disasters generally, make such causes good “second day” features when the explanation given in the first story is insufficient or unsatisfactory. Motives for crimes or for any significant action are to be sought for by the reporter. The important question always to be asked in connection with practically every piece of news is, Why? Every result of an event has new possibilities and should be “followed up.” In stories of crime the identity of the culprit and his whereabouts, if not given in the first story, are, of course, of great news value for a “second day” story. Finally, the opinions of those concerned or in any way interested in the event, as obtained by interviews, make good material for stories following the first one.

In writing the lead of a “follow-up” story the reporter must not fail to give as many of the essential elements of the first story as are necessary to make the new details intelligible to those who did not read the first story, and to recall the main facts to the minds of those who did read it. This explanatory material is made subordinate to the latest particulars, but cannot well be omitted.

The way in which a story is “followed up” from hour to hour and from day to day by “featuring” the latest news and reporting in slightly varied form the same essential details, is made evident in the following leads of a railroad wreck, the developments of which had news value for two days.

[Pg 203]

(1)

Lead of Story in First Morning
Edition of Evening Paper.

(2)

Lead of Story in Noon Edition of
Same Paper.

(3)

Lead of Story in Last Afternoon
Edition of Same Paper.

(4)

Lead of Story in Morning Paper
of the Following Day.

(5)

Lead of Story in Evening Paper on
Second Day.

Lack of important additions to facts in the first story often makes the lead of the “follow-up” story less striking in new features than those given above, but the very absence of new facts in itself has some news value, as is shown by the two following leads:

(1)

Lead of Story in Evening Paper.

(2)

Lead of Story in Next Morning’s
Paper.

“Boiling Down” News to One Paragraph. For some stories the rewriting consists of “boiling down the news” to a sentence or two containing the essential[Pg 206] facts, in order that they may be used as “fillers” or may be grouped with similar short items under general headings, such as “Sparks From the Wires,” “Telegraph Ticks,” “City News In Brief,” “Told In Brief,” “State News.” Local news stories of this type are rewritten from other city papers, and state news is often rewritten from daily and weekly papers received in exchange and known as “state exchanges.” Some of the news associations furnish brief stories of this kind which may be grouped under one head or which may be used as “fillers.” A single cross-line head, or a side head, is often put on these short “items” by the man who rewrites them. Examples of rewritten stories of this kind follow:

(1)

First Story in Evening Paper.

(2)

Rewritten Story and Head in Next
Morning’s Paper.

(1)

First Story in Evening Paper.

(2)

Rewritten Story and Head in Next
Morning’s Paper.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Read all the local papers every day before beginning your work.
2. Remember that few first stories exhaust all the news possibilities.
3. Follow up every story as long as indications point to new and interesting developments.
4. Look for ulterior causes and motives as new phases.
5. Look forward for new features to possible results and consequences.[Pg 208]
6. Get interviews with persons of prominence and authority on all important events, as new features.
7. Look at the event from a new angle before beginning your rewrite story.
8. Play up the latest possible phase of the news in the lead.
9. Find a new feature to play up in rewriting when you have no more facts.
10. Anticipate the next development of the event in beginning the lead of your rewrite story.
11. Bring the rewritten story “up to the minute” by giving prominence to features of “to-day.”

PRACTICE WORK

1. Rewrite the following story, putting the unusual feature at the beginning of the story.

[Pg 209]

2. In rewriting this story, summarize the essential facts in the opening sentence.

3. Improve the lead of the following story by playing up a better feature.

4. Give this story an entirely different lead without beginning with a summary.

FEATURE STORIES

Kinds of Feature Stories. Most news stories, it has been seen, aim to be nothing more than concise presentations of the essential facts concerning current events. They are intended primarily to inform rather than to instruct or entertain. In a feature story, on the other hand, the writer takes the day’s events and tries to present entertaining or instructive phases of them that cannot well be developed in the limited compass of the news story itself.

For one type of feature story the reporter takes the facts of the news and finds behind them the real meaning of the event to those who play a part in it. The event thus becomes an episode in the drama of human life, sometimes comic, sometimes tragic. Such a story involves feelings as well as facts. To write it successfully the reporter must be able to see the picturesque, humorous, and pathetic phases of life about him; he must feel with those to whom the events mean much. Keen insight into human nature, and sympathy with its strength and its weakness, are essential. This type of story, which is often called the “human interest” story, enjoys no small degree of popularity because it appeals to the reader’s feelings. In some newspapers it takes a place of prominence beside the best news stories; in many of them it is given a less conspicuous position; only a few neglect it entirely.

Another kind of feature story, quite different in character, undertakes to explain, interpret, and describe[Pg 212] fully significant phases of the day’s news and timely topics generally. Brief news stories often arouse the reader’s curiosity to know more of the persons and things that they mention. It remains for the feature story to supply causes, motives, results,—the full significance of the bare facts of the news. Accordingly, some newspapers set aside two or three columns on the editorial pages each day for a feature story of this kind. In magazine sections of Saturday and Sunday issues such articles are supplied in greater numbers. These feature stories are frequently illustrated. They seldom fill less than a column; more often they are several columns in length.

“Human Interest” Stories. Material for the “human interest” type of feature story is to be found anywhere and everywhere in the reporter’s daily round of news gathering. The many police court cases furnish an abundance of humorous and pathetic incidents. Accidents and minor crimes of all kinds many times are worth only a few lines as news, but as the basis for feature stories, they contain great possibilities. An incident in a crowded street car, a mishap on the street, a bit of conversation between two newsboys, a mistake made by a person unaccustomed to the ways of the metropolis, or any one of the hundred little episodes in the daily life of a city may be taken by the reporter as the subject of his feature story. Little children, because of the great appeal that they make to men and women of all classes, often furnish good material. Animals, wild or tame, are always available as subjects. A visit to the “zoo” is sure to furnish at least one good story. For the alert reporter with a knowledge of human nature and an appreciation of the humor and the pathos of life, there is never any dearth of material.

Style in Feature Stories.—Feature stories require[Pg 213] some literary ability beyond that necessary for routine reporting. From the point of view of its composition the feature story is like a miniature short story. Therefore no definite rules can be laid down for its treatment. There need be no summary of essential facts at the beginning as in the typical news story. Like the short fiction story, the feature story may begin in any way that will attract the reader’s attention, and may be developed by conversation, by narration, or by description that suggests rather than portrays in great detail. A good feature story frequently tells itself; all that the writer does is to record the incidents without comment or adornment. A simple, restrained treatment is far preferable to elaboration of detail. Pathos can easily be made bathos, and humor can readily descend to cheap buffoonery.

The style of humorous and pathetic feature stories needs careful attention. Words must be chosen not only with reference to their general meaning but with consideration for the feelings which have come to be associated with them and which they therefore arouse in the reader. One word with the wrong connotation may spoil the whole effect of an otherwise well-written pathetic story. As in the structure of the feature story so in its style, no definite rules or principles can be laid down to guide the reporter. Careful reading of well-written short stories and novels will show him various methods of producing the effects that he desires.

The rescue of a small boy from drowning in a cistern would ordinarily pass unnoticed in the newspapers of a large city and might be worth a few lines in those of a small one. A reporter with a sense of humor might see something in the incident that would make good material for a humorous feature story, as did the reporter on the Chicago Tribune, who wrote it in the[Pg 214] following form. The editor gave the story a place on the front page.

The capture of an unusually large turtle, in and of itself, has little news value, but out of the incident a New York Sun reporter by simple literary devices worked up a feature story that holds the reader’s interest and makes an entertaining little “yarn.”

How a bit of information gleaned from a janitor may furnish the basis for an amusing little story, developed almost entirely by conversation, in this instance with the added flavor of Irish brogue, is well illustrated by this example taken from the New York Tribune:

The adventures of a trained elephant that escaped in the streets of New York furnished a reporter on the Sun with an opportunity for a humorous animal story that he took every advantage of, as is seen in the following result:

In the separation of an old colored couple a reporter might see little to record in a news story, but, with an appreciation of the human interest in the event or with insight into the lives and feelings of the persons concerned, he might write a pathetic story like the following one adapted from the Pittsburgh Gazette Times:

Special Articles. The second type of feature story, that prepared for the magazine sections of Saturday[Pg 224] and Sunday editions or for the editorial pages of any issue, usually consists either of a detailed narrative or of an exposition of some interesting and timely subject. In the news columns there is room for only concise announcements of such events as a scientific discovery, an important invention, the destruction of a landmark, the death of an old actor, a new design for coins or postage stamps, an auction of rare books or paintings, a new theory of the origin of life, the results of an investigation of child labor conditions, a report on decreasing soil fertility, or the adoption by a state of a plan for government life insurance. Any one of these and thousands of other news stories whets the reader’s curiosity for more details. It remains for the editors of magazine sections to try to satisfy their readers’ curiosity and to supply interesting reading matter, by publishing feature articles that are based on these news stories or are suggested by them. Feature stories may also be given timeliness, not by particular pieces of news, but by such events as Christmas, college commencements, the exodus to summer resorts, the opening of the hunting or fishing season, the beginning of a session of Congress. Timeliness, although not absolutely essential if the subject or the treatment has sufficient interest to attract readers, is regarded by editors as an important asset.

These special articles for newspapers are written by regular reporters, by “free lance” writers not connected with any publication, or by men and women in other professions whose special knowledge and whose ability to write make them particularly well equipped to prepare articles on subjects in their own fields. Former newspaper writers, as well as reporters and correspondents in active service, are qualified to do good work of this type because their training has developed a keen[Pg 225] appreciation of what is interesting, important, and timely in current events. Reporters and correspondents also have ample opportunity in the course of their daily round of news gathering to get valuable material which may be worked up into special articles. Editors of magazine sections often suggest or assign subjects to reporters, correspondents, or “free lance” writers, but they are glad to have suggestions from members of the staff or to get well-written articles suitable for their purpose.

Subjects for Feature Articles. Material for special articles is obtained in a variety of ways. Interviews with persons who can furnish the desired information are an effective means of getting facts and impressions, and they have the advantage of giving the reporter material for the “human interest” element which not infrequently adds to the readableness of the article. From books of reference can be gleaned historical and biographical data. Reports and official documents, such as government publications, can frequently be used to secure detailed information. In fact, printed reports of such government work as that of agricultural experiment stations, divisions of the department of agriculture, various testing laboratories, the geological survey, the departments of commerce and labor, or the interstate commerce commission, and reports of corresponding work carried on by various cities and states, furnish quantities of valuable data that need only to be presented in popular form to be of general interest. Some of these reports are summarized briefly in news stories; others receive no mention at all. Although they are called public documents, the general public does not know of their existence. Personal observation also furnishes material for feature stories. An assignment that takes the reporter to the state penitentiary[Pg 226] may at the same time give him the opportunity to get facts and impressions for a special article on some phase of prison life. Statistics, if not too numerous and if skillfully handled, add to the effectiveness of the presentation. Photographs and other forms of illustration make an article attractive. In short, every available source of information can at different times be used to advantage, and often a single article requires interviews, books of reference, personal observation, and printed documents to make it complete and accurate.

Some examples of different kinds of feature articles and their sources will suggest how to find subjects and what to do with them. A reporter whose regular work takes him daily to the mayor’s office may get from the mayor’s secretary some of the hundreds of letters containing complaints and requests for assistance that are sent to the mayor constantly, and may make them the basis of a good feature story. Or, if the mayor writes characteristic replies to these letters, he may secure these answers and make an article out of them, as did a magazine writer recently out of those of Mayor Gaynor of New York. From the reports that he hears from day to day of the devious devices used by burglars and sneak thieves to gain entrance to homes, a police reporter may write an interesting article on how to protect homes against robbery. A sign, “Canaries and Parrots Boarded Here,” may give a reporter a suggestion that he can follow up by visiting the birds’ boarding-house and getting material for an article on those who leave their pets at this house during their absence from the city. From the real estate column a news story to the effect that an old building is to be torn down may suggest a feature story on this landmark and its history, the material being obtained partly from[Pg 227] local histories and partly from interviews with “old inhabitants.” A brief announcement of the death of an old-time circus clown might lead the reporter to write an entertaining “human interest” story of his career from facts secured from the clown’s friends. By spending a few hours watching the building of a big tunnel under a river, and by talking to the superintendent and the workmen, a reporter could work up a good story on the undertaking.

The popularizing of scientific and technical material affords excellent opportunity to a writer whose college training or practical experience has familiarized him with special fields. A new theory in regard to the construction of airships presented before a learned society in a paper on “Some Principles of Aerodynamics,” might make an excellent popular article if the reporter were able to present the new idea in a simple, concrete, and interesting manner. The effect of using up the phosphorus in soil under cultivation, as discussed in an agricultural experiment station report, may seem to be a subject of little interest to the average reader, but an explanation by specific examples of the results of this exhaustion of phosphorus upon the cost of living and upon the welfare of the race, may be made a readable story. To explain clearly how the transmission of the germ of infantile paralysis by means of the ordinary house fly is being determined by laboratory experiments, requires knowledge of bacteriology. For a writer familiar with electricity and its application in the telephone, the problem of explaining in an interesting manner a new device for wireless telephony is less difficult than for one who knows little about the subject. Many writers specialize in the particular field in which they are most interested, and present in popular form all the available new material in this field.

[Pg 228]

To those interested in social, political, and economic problems there is an abundance of good material for feature articles. A report of the interstate commerce commission on railroad accidents or on safety devices can be worked up into a good article at the time that the report is issued or after a disastrous wreck, when such information has peculiar timeliness. Proposed legislation for state life insurance, mothers’ pensions, workingmen’s compensation for accidents and illness, or old age pensions, gives opportunity for timely articles with concrete examples of the workings of these measures elsewhere and discussion of their probable effects under local conditions. A story of child labor in certain industries as reported by a social worker at a legislative investigation, may be followed up by a feature story with a strong “human interest” element developed from further material secured from the investigator. The printed report of a committee of a state teachers’ association on rural schools and the remedies proposed for their defects, has possibilities for an article on these problems.

The Personality Sketch. The personality sketch, or article that undertakes to present a vivid impression of the character and individuality of some person who plays a part in the news of the day, is another type of feature story that is popular. The interest of most readers in the human, personal side of famous or infamous characters in current events is so great that they eagerly read articles of this kind. Dates and facts of biography have little attraction for them; they want the man to be portrayed so vividly that they can see and know him. Not infrequently it is an unusual, quaint, picturesque character who has not appeared in the current news at all that lends himself to such a sketch. Every city furnishes plenty of examples of[Pg 229] persons who make good subjects for feature stories. Incidents, anecdotes, and characteristic utterances, if well chosen and effectively presented, make the best reading and give the most definite impression of personality.

The Style of Special Articles. The style and manner of treatment of the feature story deserve careful consideration. Simple, concrete expression, free from technical or learned terms except when they are fully explained, is always desirable. Specific examples serve most effectively to bring home to the reader a general principle and its application. To lead from these concrete illustrations to generalizations is to follow the natural order of inductive reasoning. Furthermore, the story-like character given to an article by an incident or anecdote at the beginning catches the reader’s attention and interests him at once. Striking statistics in the opening sentence may have a similar effect, although, of course, they lack the “human interest” of the story form. A vivid bit of description is sometimes used to advantage at the beginning. Exposition by narrative methods throughout the article is popular because of the story form thus given to the subject. If, instead of merely describing and explaining a mechanical process, the writer portrays men actually performing the work involved in the process, he adds greatly to the interest of the article. The effectiveness of an explanation of a new surgical operation can be increased to a marked degree by picturing a surgeon as he performs the operation upon a patient at a clinic. The method of procedure and the benefits under a workingmen’s compensation act are best made clear by telling the experiences of several typical workingmen and their families who have come under the operation of the law. Every legitimate literary device for catching[Pg 230] and holding the reader’s attention may be employed to advantage.

How a current event, in this instance the opening of a trial, gives opportunity for an interesting feature article explaining the situation, picturing vividly the persons involved, and developing the “human interest” element in the case, is well illustrated in the following story written by a correspondent of the New York Tribune:

The proposed destruction of an historic landmark recorded in a news story and subsequently made prominent by protests against the action, furnished a reporter on the New York Evening Post with an occasion for the following article, in which he blends suggestive description, emotional coloring, and historical background into an harmonious whole:

By noticing the various odd ways in which some men make a living in New York, a reporter on the Sun[Pg 236] secured interesting material for an article which the editor entitled, “Little Wants of a Big City.” A selection from the article follows:

When in the course of his regular work the reporter comes upon a picturesque bit of local color, as did a writer on the New York Evening Post in going through the Italian quarter of that city, he may use it to as good advantage as the Post reporter did in the following feature story:

Simplicity and naturalness may be given to an explanatory article by putting it in the form of an interview with the person from whom the information is obtained; this was done in the following story from the New York Sun:

The interview form may be combined with a character sketch and biographical material in order to give the reader a glimpse of the speaker’s personality as well as an account of his or her work. The selection from[Pg 244] the New York Times given below is the first part of a long article which is in the form of an interview after this introduction:

Effective presentation of the life and the character of a man who has “done things” is illustrated by the following “personality sketch” by Mr. Brand Whitlock, published in the American Magazine, but equally well adapted for newspaper publication:

SUGGESTIONS

1. Find the “human interest” in current events.
2. Notice the comedy and tragedy in life.
3. Look for good subjects for character sketches.
4. Look to future events as well as to current news for subjects for feature articles.
5. Jot down suggestions for feature articles.
6. File news clippings, statistics, and other material bearing on good subjects.
7. Write your feature article while it is new and timely.
8. Give your article timeliness by connecting it with topics of current interest.
9. Don’t forget that the story that touches the reader’s heart is the story he remembers.
10. Make your pathetic story simple and restrained.
11. Don’t confuse sentiment with sentimentality.
12. Avoid cheap humor and vulgar slang.
13. Don’t ridicule another’s religion, race, or nationality.
14. Make your explanation clear to a reader who knows nothing about the subject.
15. Use incidents, anecdotes, and concrete examples for clearness and interest.
16. Avoid technical and scientific terms.
17. Let your first sentence arouse interest and curiosity.

[Pg 249]

PRACTICE WORK

1. Write a humorous animal story based on the material in the following news story:

2. Make a more entertaining “Zoo” story out of the facts in the following article:

3. Use the facts in the following clipping as the basis for an amusing hunting story:

4. Write a pathetic story, using the particulars given in the following narrative:

5. With the facts given in the news story below as a basis, write a pathetic feature story.

6. Rewrite the following humorous story, making it more effective in every way possible.

EDITING COPY

What Copy-Reading Means. All news stories, whether written by reporters, sent through the mail by correspondents, or received by telegraph or telephone, must be read and edited before they are set up in type. This work is done either by the editor in whose department the news belongs or by a copy-reader. The reading and editing of copy consists of:

(1) Correcting all errors whether in expression or in fact.

(2) Making the story conform to the so-called “style” of the newspaper.

(3) Improving the story in any respect.

(4) Eliminating libelous matter.

(5) Marking copy for the printer.

(6) Writing headlines and subheads.

The good copy-reader must be able to catch instantly, and correct quickly, errors of all kinds. Good copy, or “clean copy,” as it is called, should be free from mistakes in spelling, grammar, and rhetoric; but rapid writing too often leads to carelessness, and the copy-reader’s work is correspondingly increased by the necessity of doing what the writer has neglected to do. The correction of such errors, however, is not the most important part of his work. He must be able to detect and correct errors of fact. As every art, science, business, occupation, sport, recreation,—in short, every form of activity, is the subject of news, the copy-reader should be able to pass intelligent judgment on the accuracy of stories written about these various activities.[Pg 256] He must also be familiar with proper names that appear in the news, such as names of prominent persons and places the world over, the titles of well-known books, plays, pictures, and musical compositions, the names of railroads and important corporations, and special trade-mark names. To no one in the newspaper office and to few outside of it, can the words of Terence more truly be applied than to the copy-reader, humani nihil a me alienum puto, “I consider nothing human to be outside of my sphere.”

Like the good reporter, the copy-reader must be an accurate judge of news values. He must be able to see the significance of the news in the story. He must be able to decide how much space it is worth. If the real point of the news has been buried by the writer, the copy-reader must get it out and give it the prominence that it deserves. The ineffective lead must be rewritten, the needless details cut out, and the parts of the story rearranged for the best effect.

To improve the style of the story, he must consider carefully the construction of paragraphs and sentences, the choice of words and figures. Each paragraph should be given an effective beginning that will catch the reader’s eye in rapid reading. Close connection should be maintained between the sentences in the paragraph. The copy-reader must transform the weak, rambling sentence into a firm, coherent statement with an emphatic beginning. For the trite, colorless word or phrase, he must substitute the fresh, picturesque one. The too figurative flights of exuberant fancy in one young reporter’s copy must be toned down, and the bald, prosaic narrative or description in another’s given life and interest. In short, the copy-reader’s work is constructive as well as critical; it is as important for him to rewrite and rearrange as to cut out and boil down.

[Pg 257]

The responsibility of determining whether or not any statements or implications of the story as written are libelous also rests upon the copy-reader. He must know the law of libel, therefore, as it is construed in his state, and must prevent violations of it in the matter that he edits. Less often he is called upon to decide whether or not anything in the news story violates laws regulating the transmission of printed matter through the mail. Whenever the copy-reader is uncertain on any important point involving the management of the newspaper, he refers the question to his superiors.

Some Common Errors. In reading copy rapidly the beginner will do well to be on the lookout for certain kinds of common errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The quick eye of the copy-reader will catch the frequently misspelled words without difficulty, but uncommon proper names are more likely to cause trouble, and in cases of doubt, books of reference should be consulted. To prevent errors in grammar from slipping through in a story, the copy-reader should note such points as (1) the agreement of the verb with the subject, particularly when they are separated from each other by words or phrases; (2) the relation of pronouns to their antecedents; (3) the position of participles in relation to the words that they modify; (4) the use of coördinate conjunctions to connect elements of the same kind; (5) the position of correlative conjunctions with relation to the elements that they connect.

In punctuation, not infrequent errors are (1) the use of a comma instead of a semicolon to separate independent, grammatically unconnected statements; (2) the omission of apostrophes in the possessive case and in contractions; (3) the omission of a period after abbreviations; (4) the use of double instead of single quotation marks; (5) the failure to put quotation[Pg 258] marks at the beginning of each paragraph of a continuous quotation and at the end of only the last paragraph.

Following the “Style Book.” As each newspaper has its peculiar “style,” so-called, the copy-reader must learn the rules set forth in the “style book” which his newspaper prints for the guidance of its reporters, editors, copy-readers, and compositors. These rules have to do with capitalization, abbreviation, hyphenation, punctuation, use of numerical figures, and also with the use of certain words and phrases. The form and size of each kind of headline and the number or letter by which it is to be designated in the copy, are sometimes included in the style book. Every newspaper office has its own method of designating the heads, either by number or letter, whether or not the method is printed in the style book. Almost every style book has a long or short list of “Don’ts,” which includes common errors to be avoided and frequently those words and phrases that are pet aversions of the editor-in-chief or of the managing editor.

How the Copy-Reader Works. In all this work of the copy-reader the important element is speed. Every minute is valuable in the newspaper office, and only those who can work rapidly as well as accurately can expect to hold a position long. To rearrange, to reconstruct, to correct, rather than to rewrite, and to do this quickly and skillfully, is the real work of the copy-reader. To putter over details is an inexcusable fault. The combination of speed and accuracy in a copy-reader is the ideal of the editor.

On large newspapers under the plan of having all news copy read at one desk by copy-readers under the direction of a head copy-reader, every news story goes to the head copy-reader, who, after deciding on its value, determines how much space it is worth and what[Pg 259] size head it shall have. Before passing the story over to one of the copy-readers, the head reader gives it a catch-line, or “slugs” it, to indicate its character and to serve as a means of identification. He also indicates by means of a number the size of head to be written for it; for example, “No. 1 Wreck” indicates the name of the story and the style of head.

If the copy is being read page by page as fast as it is written rather than after the whole story is completed, the guide or catch-line may be repeated at the top of each page, thus “4 Storm,” which means that this is page 4 of the storm story. The head copy-reader also keeps a record of all copy that passes through his hands, the entries in which may be something like this, “Walters—Wreck—500—No. 1—11.15 A.M.—more,” which means that from one of the members of the staff named Walters, he received a story of a wreck that contained about 500 words; that he gave it a No. 1 head; that it went to the composing room to be set up in type at 11.15 A.M.; and that more of the story is to follow.

When the head copy-reader passes over the story to the copy-reader who is to edit it, he may give verbal directions in regard to cutting it down, “playing up” important facts buried by the writer, or improving the form or expression as he thinks best; or he may leave all these details to the discretion of the copy-reader. The latter begins to correct and improve the story as soon as he has finished the piece of work that he has in hand. It is not unusual during the rush hours when time is very valuable to send stories to the copy desk as each page is written, and as the page is edited, to send it up to the composing room to be put into type, without waiting for the complete story. Under these circumstances a copy-reader is often editing alternate[Pg 260] pages of several entirely different stories, all the details of which he must carry in mind in order to handle them intelligently and to write a complete and accurate headline if, as is sometimes the case, this is written only after the last page of copy on the story has been read.

Use of Guide Lines. Catch-lines, such as “Society,” “State,” “Sport,” aid in assembling news that is to go on one page or in one department. When several independent stories, each with a separate head, are to be assembled so that one will follow the other, the catch-lines may indicate this thus: “Lead Convention,” “Follow Convention,” “First Follow Convention,” “Second Follow Convention,” etc. In making up a report of a state or national political convention, these catch-lines are of considerable assistance. When, on the other hand, copy is being edited that is to follow immediately upon the lead or any part of the story without a separate head, the copy is marked “Add Convention,” “First Add Convention,” “Second Add Convention,” etc.

Not infrequently after the story has gone to the composing room new facts of sufficient importance develop to warrant the writing of a new lead or of a new paragraph or two to be inserted somewhere in the story. In the case of a new lead the copy is marked “New Lead Convention,” and the copy of the inserts is marked “First Insert Convention” or “Insert A Convention.” Whenever it is known in advance that there are to be additions to the story later, the copy-reader writes “more” at the end of the piece of copy, instead of the end mark (#). If the head is not sent to the composing room with the copy, the copy is marked “Head to Come.” This is often done when it is known that important news is coming that should be embodied in the head. If this later news is to be put into the lead, the story may be sent up without a lead and with the explanation[Pg 261] “Lead to Come.” Stories to be used in a particular edition are marked “Noon Edition,” “Market Edition,” etc. All these catch-lines should be taken out when the type is assembled in the forms in making up.

The typewritten copy of telegraph news furnished by news distributing agencies like the Associated Press and the United Press has guide lines on stories for the benefit of the editors whenever such explanatory matter is necessary. In order to keep their newspaper clients informed of the latest phases of the news, these associations send brief bulletins and “flash” statements, which they follow with more complete stories as the news develops. The first news of an accident, for example, comes as a bulletin, and later more details are furnished in one or more additions to the original bulletin or in substitution for it. The following example taken from the United Press telegraph news service illustrates how news stories, the parts of which are furnished at intervals during the day, are supplied with guide lines:

(1)

BULLETIN

Norfolk, Va., Nov. 2.—Six men have been reported injured, two probably fatally, in an explosion on the battleship Vermont, early today.

(2)

(ADD BULLETIN ... NORFOLK)

The Vermont is now in Hampton Roads and only meagre details of the reported accident were received by the navy yard here. It was understood that the explosion occurred in the boiler room of the vessel.

(3)

(SUBSTITUTE)

Norfolk, Va., Nov. 2.—In an explosion in the boiler room of the battleship Vermont last night, six men were scalded,[Pg 262] two receiving possibly fatal injuries. While the ship was cruising a short distance off the capes which form the entrance to Hampton Roads, a part of the boiler burst, filling the engine room with scalding water and steam. Captain Hughes immediately sent a wireless message to the hospital ship Solace and the wounded men were transferred at sea to that vessel, which brought them to the Norfolk hospital to-day.

The injured men are:

R. M. Wagner, fireman second class.

M. C. Horan, coal passer.

J. R. Newberry, fireman first class.

M. T. Green, fireman first class.

C. A. Hoteling, coal passer.

P. W. Cramer, coal passer.

(MORE)

(4)

(ADD ACCIDENT VERMONT ... NORFOLK)

The accident occurred while the Vermont was anchored off the southern battlefield drill grounds, where the annual fall target practice began today. The head of the boiler burst and a torrent of boiling water and steam poured out over the firemen and coal passers. Wagner and Haran (correct) who were nearest the boiler head, were the most seriously injured, both being scalded from head to foot. The hospital ship Solace asked that the navy hospital here make ready for the injured men and said that she expected to reach Norfolk this afternoon. It was reported, but without confirmation, that Haran had died of his injuries.

(5)

BULLETIN

(LEAD)

Norfolk, Va., Nov. 2.—Two men are dead and four others this afternoon lie swathed in bandages suffering terribly from scalds, as a result of a boiler explosion on the battleship Vermont early today. R. M. Wagner, a fireman, first class, and M. C. Haran, a coal passer, are the dead.

The hospital ship Solace brought the dead and wounded[Pg 263] to the naval hospital here today. The Vermont broke all her former speed records in a run

(MORE)

(6)

(ADD BULLETIN LEAD ... NORFOLK)

in a run from the southern drill grounds, outside the capes, to Hampton Roads, arriving here late this afternoon.

Wagner and Haran both died on the Solace, suffering terribly from the scalds that covered them from head to foot.

(1)

FLASH: Salem, Mass., Nov. 26.—Ettor, Giovannitti, and Caruso acquitted.

(2)

BULLETIN: SUBSTITUTE FLASH ALL

Court House, Salem, Mass., Nov. 26.—Ettor, Giovannitti and Caruso, the three labor leaders who have been on trial nearly two months charged with murder as the result of the killing of a woman striker during the textile troubles at Lawrence, were acquitted to-day

(MORE)

Sizes and Kinds of Type. Editors and copy-readers need some knowledge of type in order to do their work efficiently. The size of type is measured by the point system. The unit of measure, a point, is one seventy-second of an inch. Six-point type, accordingly, is six seventy-seconds of an inch, 10-point is ten seventy-seconds of an inch, and 36-point is thirty-six seventy-seconds, or one half, of an inch in size. Before the point system was adopted, each size of type had a name, and these names are still in common use. Thus, 5½-point type is known as agate, 6-point as nonpareil, 7-point as minion, 8-point as brevier, 9-point as bourgeois,[Pg 264] 10-point as long primer, and 12-point as pica. Nonpareil, or 6-point, is the size commonly used by large newspapers, and minion and brevier by smaller papers.

Type is classified as body type and display type. Body type is that which is used in newspapers for all reading matter; display type is the large sizes, or “faces,” of type used in headlines and in advertising. As distinguished from the light-face body type, the heavy faces, that print blacker than the body type, are known as bold-face type (abbreviated, “b.f.”). Thus the boxed summaries and lists on pages 86–88 were marked to be set in 6-point bold-face type (abbreviated, “6-pt. b.f.”).

Type is further classified on the basis of the proportion of the height of the letter to its width, as extra-condensed, condensed, regular or medium, and extended. Extra-condensed and condensed faces are used in the top deck of large headlines, and medium, or regular, faces are usually used for banner heads extending across the page, as well as in underline and overline heads for cuts. As distinct from slanting or Italic type, the usual perpendicular type is called Roman.

Different kinds, or faces, of type are given names by type founders, such as “Caslon,” “Cheltenham,” “De Vinne,” “Ronaldson.” Each kind or face is generally made in different sizes, body sizes commonly ranging from 5½-point to 12-point, and display type from 8-point to 120-point.

A “font” of type of a particular size and kind consists of a complete set of letters, figures, etc., each character being furnished in numbers proportional to the frequency with which it appears in ordinary printed matter. Type is kept in shallow wooden trays, or “cases,” divided into compartments, or “boxes,” one for each character. Capital letters (abbreviated “caps.”) are[Pg 265] often called “upper case,” and small letters are always known as “lower case” (abbreviated “l. c.”), because the capital letters are in the upper of the two type cases and the small letters in the lower one.

The amount of type set is measured by the number of “ems” (from the letter “M”). An “em” is a square of a given size of type; i.e., an em in 8-point type is eight seventy-seconds of an inch square. The standard unit of measure for type matter is usually the 12-point, or pica, em. A column of a newspaper that is thirteen ems wide, therefore, is thirteen 12-point ems, or thirteen picas, in width; i.e., it is one hundred and fifty-six seventy-seconds of an inch, or two and one sixth inches wide. Advertising space is measured by the so-called “agate line,” on the basis of fourteen agate lines to one inch.

In setting type by hand, the compositor has a small metal tray, or “stick,” inclosed on three sides and adjusted to the width of a column or a line, into which he places the type, letter by letter, as he picks it out of the case before him. As a stick holds about two inches of type, a “stickful” has come to be a common expression for about two or two and one half inches of printed matter. A news story is spoken of by editors and compositors as being two or three “stickfuls” long, and an editor often tells a reporter to “write a stickful or two” on a particular story, or directs a copy-reader to “cut it down to a stickful.”

Type is “leaded” when thin strips of lead or brass are placed between the lines, these “leads” being two points in thickness. When two of these 2-point leads are placed between the lines, the type is “double-leaded.” If no leads are used, the type is said to be “solid.” The first paragraphs of news stories are often leaded, and very important news, particularly short[Pg 266] bulletins for extra editions, are frequently double-leaded. In most parts of a newspaper, however, the type is solid. All type and cuts are made of the same height—that is, they are “type-high”—so that when used together they will present an even surface for printing and stereotyping.

Marks Used in Copy Reading. The marks used in editing copy are a few simple time-saving devices to indicate to the compositor how the matter is to be set in type. They are as follows:

[Pg 267]

The application of these marks and the catch-lines in the editing of copy are shown by the following typical pages:

[Pg 268]

[Pg 269]

SUGGESTIONS

1. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with all details of the typographical style of your paper.
2. Read every word of copy carefully.
3. Work as rapidly as is consistent with accuracy; don’t putter over corrections.
4. Make all corrections and changes so clear that the compositor can not misunderstand them.
5. Revise and rearrange whenever possible instead of rewriting.
6. Cut out all needless words and phrases.
7. Don’t think that your own way of expressing an idea is the only good way.
8. Scrutinize carefully all participles, pronouns, conjunctions, correlatives, and “only’s.”
9. Watch for the omission of the apostrophe in possessives and contractions.
10. See that all quoted matter is properly enclosed in “quotes.”
11. Be sure to put single “quotes” on quotations within quotations.
12. Verify names, initials, addresses, dates, and facts generally.
13. Be on the lookout for libelous matter.
14. Give every story a distinctive guide line.
15. Don’t confuse “add’s” and “follow’s” in marking copy.
16. Keep a record of all copy read with size of head, length of story, author, and time.
17. Draw a line around all directions intended for the compositors.
18. Consult your superior when in doubt about the propriety of anything in copy.

PRACTICE WORK

Point out all changes that should be made in editing the[Pg 270] following piece of copy and show how each change should be indicated:

THE WRITING OF HEADLINES

The Function of the Headline. Headlines as developed by the American press during the last half-century have come to be, next to the news itself, the most important part of our newspapers. From mere labels to indicate the kind of reading matter to be found in the columns under them, headlines in this country have developed into bulletins giving the substance of the articles to which they are attached. By presenting conspicuously in large type the important facts of the story which it precedes, the headline serves a double purpose: it makes possible rapid reading of the news thus outlined in the head, and it becomes an advertisement of the news to attract the purchaser.

Heads Promote Rapid Reading. As concise summaries of the facts of the news, headlines fill an important place in contemporary American life, for, by reading only the headlines, the busy man or woman can get in brief outline the news of the whole world. The size of the type and the arrangement of the parts of the headline aid in a marked degree this rapid reading. Well-written heads that give clearly and accurately the information of greatest significance in the stories under them are an integral part of the newspaper, the function of which, as has been said, is to give the readers in a clear and interesting form the news of the day.

How Heads Advertise News. By their form and position, likewise, the headlines act as advertisements for what the paper contains. Like all good advertisements,[Pg 272] headlines should create interest and lead to the sale of the paper. By arousing the reader’s curiosity and at the same time partially satisfying it, the head, when skillfully written, attracts the reader’s attention and influences him to read the story.

A newspaper that aims to have large street sales will naturally take advantage of the advertising element in the heads, by making them as attractive as possible. In fact, the efforts of some newspapers of this class to make the most powerful appeal possible, have led to extreme forms of headlines with great black type and with varicolored effects. In general, morning papers and evening papers with regular subscribers are less inclined to employ large heads for advertising their news than are those evening papers with several street editions that seek to have large sales. Large heads extending across several columns and printed in green, red, or black ink set forth the latest phases of the news in a manner well calculated to catch the eye as the paper is displayed on the news stand or in the hands of the newsboy. As in advertising in general there is always a temptation to make alluring statements at the expense of truth, so in headline advertisement there is a tendency to exaggerate and magnify in order to catch the unwary reader.

Large Heads and “Yellow Journalism.” Since the more sensational papers have taken advantage of this advertising element and have yielded at times to the temptation to exaggerate or even to misrepresent, as is not unheard of in advertising generally, large display effects in headlines have come to be associated in the popular mind with so-called “yellow journalism.” The connection between the two is by no means inevitable, however, for large headlines need not be any more sensational or inaccurate than smaller ones, and[Pg 273] may legitimately be used to attract attention to the real features of the news. Conservative papers that do not depend to any considerable extent on street sales tend to keep up the smaller headlines long used in American newspapers, which, while giving the substance of the news in outline, do not attempt to advertise prominently the contents.

Clearness and Conciseness. Regarded as a bulletin of the most important facts in the news, the headline should present these facts in a clear and concise manner. To be clear the form should be one that can be taken in by the eye at a glance. The relation of the divisions, or “decks,” of the head should be evident, so that the reader may get a clear idea of the bearing of one statement on another. The statements should be concrete and specific. The limitations of space make it necessary for the headline to be concise so that the maximum number of important facts may be included.

Action in Headlines. As news is largely concerned with activities, headlines should express the action related in the news story. In defining oratory Demosthenes said that the three essential elements are: first, “action”; second, “action”; and third, “action.” The same characteristics may well be ascribed to the most effective headlines. Life and vividness of expression give interest to heads as they do to the news story. Freshness and originality of phrasing are also successful provided the uncommon form is clear. Short, crisp, specific words constituting definite statements that can be readily grasped in rapid reading, generally make the best headlines.

Headlines are Impartial. Headlines, like the news stories of which they are summaries, should be impartial. It is possible to “color” headlines so that they[Pg 274] give a false impression of the news in the stories to which they are attached. The reader tends to carry over into the news story the impression which he gets from the headline, and a “colored” head, therefore, tends to “color” even an impartial, accurate news story. Headlines likewise should not comment on the news; comments on the news should be made in the editorial columns.

Divisions of Headlines. The headline is composed of one or more divisions called “lines,” “decks,” or “banks.” These divisions are separated by dashes and are frequently different in form and in size of type. In the following head, each deck has a distinct form and size of type.

Headlines are constructed on the basis of the four forms that appear in the above example, which may be[Pg 275] called respectively, (1) the drop-line; (2) the pyramid; (3) the cross-line; and (4) the hanging indention. Graphically these forms may be represented thus:

Drop-Line Heads. The drop-line head may consist of two, three, or four parts arranged as in the following three heads:

[Pg 276]

Cross-Line Heads. The cross-line head consists of but one line which may or may not fill the whole space between the column rules. In the following examples, the first head fills the line, and the second only part of the line.

Pyramid Banks. The pyramid head may consist of two, three, or four parts, graduated in length to produce the inverted pyramid effect. The following “bank” illustrates the pyramid of three parts:

[Pg 277]

Hanging Indention. The hanging indention head consists of several parts, the first of which begins at the column rule on the left, while all the others are indented the width of one or two letters.

The drop-line, cross-line, or pyramid may be used in any deck, whereas the hanging indention head is used only for a deck other than the first.

Combinations of Forms. Various combinations of these four forms may be used to give the variety required for all kinds of stories. For large heads a combination of a two part drop-line, a three part pyramid, a cross-line or another drop-line, and a second pyramid, constitutes a frequent form, as is seen in the following example:

[Pg 278]

A large three part drop-line head may be followed by a hanging indention line and by a cross-line, as in the following case:

For smaller heads there are several sizes of two part drop-heads, or of cross-lines combined with pyramids or hanging indentions of two or three parts; for example:

[Pg 279]

Practically every symmetrical arrangement of the four forms of heads can be found in various newspapers, but the principles underlying the writing of any of the combinations are the same.

Type Limits of Heads. The typographical limitations are the most important considerations governing the writing of headlines. These limitations are determined by the size of type and the form of each deck of the head. The possible variation in the parts of the first deck is not more than a letter or two from the normal form. So small is the variation possible within the column width that the size of the letters used has to be considered. Thus the letters “M” and “W” are one and one-half times the size of all the other letters except “I,” which is only one-half as large as the others. In the counting of unit letters in a headline, the writer must consider “M” and “W” as one and one-half units each, and the letter “I” and the figure “1” as half a unit each. Each space between words is counted as one unit. Since the form and symmetry of a head are[Pg 280] marred or entirely destroyed by having too few or too many units in any part, great skill is necessary in the choice and the arrangement of words to secure as nearly as possible the exact number of units required for a perfect head.

The effect produced by having too many units is shown in the following heads for which 18 units is the normal number in each half of the two-line drop head.

When the number of units is less than that required for the best effect, the headline is not so unsatisfactory as when too many units are crowded into it, because the short line is more legible than the long one. In each of the following heads the first half contains only 15 units instead of 18, and as a result there is too much space at the end of each of these halves. Both, however, are much more easily read than the crowded ones given above.

[Pg 281]

That much better results are produced by having each half contain more nearly the required number of units is shown by comparing the next two heads with those preceding.

In headline writing a number of points must be borne in mind. It should be remembered, however, that these are not hard and fast rules but general principles based on newspaper practice.

Why the Head is Based on the “Lead.” As in the normal type of news story all the important facts are given in the lead, the headline, as the bulletin of these facts, is based largely, if not entirely, on the material in the lead. One reason for giving all the essential details in the lead, as has already been pointed out, is that the story may be cut down before or after it is in type. This possibility that the story may be cut down is an additional reason why the headline should be based on the first part of the story, for if the headline[Pg 282] contains only the substance of the lead, it need not be rewritten when any part of the story is cut off.

The Tone of the Head. To adapt the character of the headline to the tone of the story is important for the best effect of both. The head should prepare the reader for what is to follow. A humorous or witty headline is well adapted for a story written in a light vein but usually is out of keeping with a plain news story. A suggestion of pathos even may be given in the headline when the story warrants it. Efforts to be funny or tearful, however, ought always to be carefully considered and should not be made unless the circumstances justify them.

Avoiding Repetition. It has come to be a generally recognized point that there should be a minimum amount of repetition of words throughout the head. The same word should not be used more than once either in the same deck or in different decks unless the lack of synonyms makes it absolutely necessary, or unless emphasis is gained by so doing. This, of course, applies in only a limited degree to the necessary connective words, such as conjunctions and prepositions, and parts of the verb “to be.” The writer of heads should have at his command a number of synonymous words and expressions, so that, when he must refer to the same person, object, or action a second or third time, he may be able to vary the expression.

The Interrelation of the Decks. If the grammatical subject remains the same in statements made in two or more decks, it need not be repeated, as it will be understood with the verbs in the following deck or decks. In the head given below, the subject of the verb “stricken” in the first deck, serves as the subject of the verbs “found” in the second deck, “is” in the third, and “will be taken” in the fourth.

[Pg 283]

Since the subject, when suppressed in any deck, is understood to be the same as that in the deck just preceding, care must be taken to have the verb agree with it grammatically. There is a not unnatural tendency, for example, to use in one deck a singular verb with a collective noun like “common council,” or “faculty” (of a college), and then, changing the idea to the members of these bodies, to use in the next deck a plural verb with the subject suppressed. Thus, in the following head, “tariff board” should not be made the subject of “reports” and “declare.”

[Pg 284]

Failure to remember that a verb without a subject is assumed to have the same subject as the statement in the deck immediately preceding, not that in any other of the preceding decks, also leads to confusion. The following head, for example, is poor because it is not clear that “president” is the subject of “gives,” since “governor” is the subject of the statement in the preceding deck; nor is it evident that “troops” of the first deck is the subject of “to camp” in the fourth.

The subject is sometimes incorrectly suppressed in one deck when there is no subject in the preceding deck that can be understood for that verb; for example, in the following head there is no word in the first deck that can be taken for the subject of “was” in the second.

Often it is necessary to repeat in other decks with additional details or in more definite form the statement made in the first deck; for example:

[Pg 285]

When such repetition is necessary for greater clearness, there is no objection to it, but to make several decks merely repetition in other words of the first is a not uncommon fault that should be avoided. If, for example, the foregoing head had been expanded into four decks by mere repetition, the result might have been the following head, in which but one fact is presented.

Most newspapers prefer to have the statement in each deck grammatically independent of that in the preceding deck; that is, they avoid extending a statement through two decks. How such a continuous statement is sometimes made, however, is shown in the following head from the New York Sun:

One peculiar form of headline, some of the best examples of which are found in the Cincinnati Enquirer, depends for its effect upon this continuation of a statement[Pg 286] through several decks. Only one word is used for the first deck of large heads of this type, and only one or two in the first deck of smaller heads, as is seen in the following examples:

[Pg 287]

Style in Heads. Rhyme and alliteration may be used to advantage on rare occasions, but generally this similarity of sound produces a jingling result that is not pleasing. Originality and novelty can be given by choice and combination of words much more effectively than by the artificial means of similar sounds.

To make headlines as concise as possible the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are omitted, and auxiliary verbs not absolutely necessary are suppressed. When articles and auxiliaries are convenient to fill out the line to the required number of units, they may be retained, but should not be used at the beginning of a deck.

To give freshness and vividness to the head, the verb is usually put in the present tense even though the action is in the past; for example, “Roosevelt Speaks in Cleveland.” Future action is expressed by the infinitive or by the regular future form with “will”; for example, “Roosevelt to Speak in Cleveland,” or “Roosevelt Will Speak in Cleveland.”

The active voice of the verb is preferred to the passive because the active is more vivid and more concise. “Cornell Wins Intercollegiate Regatta,” is better than “Intercollegiate Regatta Won by Cornell.” When, however, the passive is required to give the more significant part of the statement prominence in the first[Pg 288] part of the top deck it should be used in preference to the active. In the following head the important point is that the post office has been robbed, rather than the fact that it was robbed by tramps.

This head would be less effective with the active verb, since the robbery of the post office would then go into the second part of the deck, thus:

News value rather than rules must determine in any case whether the active or passive voice is desirable.

The use of abbreviations, likewise, cannot be fixed by rule. In general, only commonly used abbreviations, like “Dr.,” “Prof.,” “Mrs.,” “Mr.,” “St.,” “Co.,” are to be found in headlines. In particular cases, however, others are employed because they are convenient and clear. In Boston, for example, “Tech” as an abbreviation for “Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” is common, and the Boston Herald, therefore, used it to advantage in the head:

During a long campaign for “immediate municipal ownership” in Chicago, the newspapers of that city used almost daily the abbreviation “I.M.O.” So “L”[Pg 289] for “elevated railroad” is perfectly clear to readers in New York, Boston, and Chicago. The names of states are not usually abbreviated, although “U.S.” is frequent. Abbreviations like “auto,” “taxi,” and “phone” are so general that they are used without question in headlines.

Colloquial contractions like “can’t,” “we’re,” etc., although not common, may give the life and naturalness often well suited to a story, as for example in the following head:

In the first deck short words are preferred, because in rapid reading they are more easily grasped than long ones, and because two or three words in each part of the line make a better looking, more symmetrical head. To meet the need for short equivalents for long words that are generally accepted terms, new words have been coined and new functions given to old ones. For the long noun “investigation” and the verb “to investigate,” the words “probe” and “quiz” are favorites with the headline writer, and are often used to excess. Long words like “criticize,” “censure,” “rebuke” give way to shorter ones like “hit,” “rap,” and “score.” The concise but inelegant “nab” is a headline substitute for “arrest.” The verb “peril,” rarely used elsewhere, appears in heads as an equivalent for “imperil” or “endanger,” as in “Shipwreck Perils Many.” The verb “wed” is a convenient short form for “marry.” Words condemned by good usage, such as “to suicide” and “to kill self,” have found a place in the headlines of some newspapers because of their clearness and brevity.

[Pg 290]

Slang, likewise, on account of its conciseness, novelty, and colloquial character, is not infrequently found in heads, although some newspapers have a rule against its use. If the slang word or phrase is put in quotation marks, it is considered by some newspapers as less objectionable. All that may be said for or against slang in newspapers as a whole, applies with equal force to its use in heads. If the question of good taste is involved in the use of a slang word, the safe course is to avoid it.

Some newspapers have a rule that numerical figures should be put into headlines only when they are absolutely necessary, an injunction that implies a very limited use of them, whereas the general practice clearly is to employ figures when they are the most effective means of conveying the important facts. The advantage of figures is seen in the following heads taken from representative newspapers:

[Pg 291]

Figures for numbers under ten appear less frequently in headlines, particularly at the beginning of a deck, but again the practice in regard to this usage is not uniform. Newspapers, like the New York Evening Post, that have but one line in the top deck of their large headlines, not infrequently use figures below ten at the beginning or anywhere in the first deck. With the greater space of the drop-line head it is easier to avoid small figures.

The division of words in headlines so that one syllable is in one part of the deck and one in another part, is to be avoided. Similarly, hyphenated words, or two words constituting a name or term each word of which is not clear alone, should not be divided between parts of the top deck. The following four heads illustrate these undesirable divisions:

[Pg 292]

The use of unemphatic words, like “of,” “to,” “for,” “and,” “but,” “if,” “a,” “the,” at the end of parts of the top deck is not desirable, as in this position they are given prominence and emphasis out of all proportion to their importance. Typographical limitations and the exigencies of rapid headline writing, however, result not infrequently in their appearance in these positions. Whenever it is possible, they should be avoided at the end of parts of the top deck.

Punctuation. Punctuation in headlines and subheads follows the accepted rules. When marks are not absolutely necessary for clearness, they should be omitted. In the first deck, and in cross-line heads, independent sentences not connected by conjunctions are separated by semicolons; for example:

In other decks dashes are usually used to separate independent unconnected statements. Care should be taken to avoid a dash at the end of one of the parts of a deck. The use of the dash is shown in the following example:

[Pg 293]

Headline punctuation in various forms is illustrated in the heads given below:

[Pg 294]

Methods of Building Headlines. The editor or copy-reader who is constantly writing heads comes to think unconsciously in headline units; that is, his daily practice makes it possible for him to frame readily statements of the essential facts that will fulfill the requirements of each deck of the head. Nevertheless, he always counts the units to be sure that the number is correct. For the beginner the process of building up the several decks of a typical headline is analyzed at some length in the following pages, in order to demonstrate the methods pursued.

The story selected for showing the process of headline writing has been taken from the Chicago Record-Herald, which gave it a headline constructed on the following plan:

[Pg 295]

The story for which the headline is to be written follows:

In editing this story of the meeting of the city council finance committee, the copy-reader would get these four main points:

(1) Mayor Harrison’s proposal to the finance committee in regard to the allotment of ward funds was approved.

(2) His plan is to have experts decide the division on a scientific basis.

(3) The new method cannot be put into operation until next year on account of lack of time.

(4) The fight, or “squabble,” among the aldermen on this matter has been an annual one.

As the subject of the story is the “ward funds,” the headline may be constructed around these words. The words “ward fund” contain 9½ units, and the plural “ward funds,” 10½ units, which, on the basis of 18 units to be filled in each half of the first deck, will leave 7½ or 8½ units to be filled, according as the singular or plural form of “fund” is used. If a verb is desired for the first half deck, the “dividing” or “allotting” of the fund expresses the idea involved; and, since the action is in the future, “to divide” or “to allot” (8 units each), or “will divide” or “will allot” (10 units each), are possibilities. The combination of these elements gives “To Allot Ward Fund” (18½ units) and “To Divide Ward Fund” (18½ units), either of which may be used for the first half of the top deck. This deck may be completed in the second half by introducing the second point; namely, that the allotment[Pg 297] is to be made “On a Scientific Basis” (19 units), which can be reduced to 17 units by omitting the article “a.” The result will then be as follows:

Or the second point may be used in the form of the allotment’s being made “with the aid of experts” (22½ units), which may be reduced to 18½ units by omitting the article “the.” The resulting combination will be:

If it is desired to emphasize the fact that the mayor has solved the ward fund problem, or has ended the “grab,” or settled the “squabble,” or dispute, or fight, these phrases may be arranged in the following forms:

[Pg 298]

Still greater prominence can be given to the mayor by putting the word at the beginning of the first half of the first deck, but by so doing the real subject, that is, the ward fund division or wrangle, must go over into the second half. In this arrangement the forms would be:

If more emphasis is desired for the point that experts are to settle or decide the ward fund division or fight, these statements may be combined as follows, but[Pg 299] again the real subject, by going into the second half of the deck, is less conspicuous:

These various forms for the top deck show some of the possibilities of variety of emphasis and tone in the headline. As the first half of the top deck is more conspicuous than the second, the most significant part of the statement should, if possible, be placed in the first half. Consequently those forms in which the idea of the allotting or dividing of the ward funds is placed first, would generally be preferred. The words “squabble,” “scrap,” and “grab,” although colloquial and inelegant, might be admissible to characterize effectively the situation growing out of the efforts of each alderman to get the most for his own ward, if the circumstances of the dispute were undignified.

The other decks of the headline for this story may be constructed to follow any one of these top decks, but, for convenience, only two of the top decks will be used for illustration. If the one chosen is “To Divide Ward Fund On Scientific Basis,” it may be developed by the other points already given (page 296); that is, (1) The mayor’s proposal was approved by the finance committee; (2) The division is to be made[Pg 300] by experts; (3) The method cannot be put into operation until next year for lack of time; and (4) the fight on the matter has been an annual one. The second deck of ten words should explain the “scientific basis” of division and give the action of the finance committee by which this plan was determined upon, both of which points may be stated in the following forms:

The third deck, which, because of the size of type, is next in prominence to the top deck, should contain the mayor’s part in the solution, and within the limits of 23 unit letters, this may be expressed in the following forms:

[Pg 301]

If the third or fifth forms are used, they should not be combined with the second form, “Plan To Let Experts, etc.,” suggested for the second deck, because of the repetition of the word “plan.”

For the fourth deck the idea that the dispute is an annual one, and, if not already used, the point that the plan is going into effect next year, may both be expressed within the limits, which are the same as those for the second deck, as follows:

In complete form with one of each of these possibilities chosen to avoid repetition, the head will read:

[Pg 302]

If the first deck chosen is one of the forms in which the part played by the mayor in the solution of the problem is emphasized, the other three decks could be so composed as to include the other points, without repetition, as follows:

Subheads. Besides writing headlines for stories, the copy-reader inserts subheads at intervals to break up the solid masses of type which are unrelieved except by paragraph division. These subheads make possible more rapid reading.

The subhead, which is set up either in bold face capitals or in bold face capitals and lower case, is like a cross-line head that does not fill the entire column width. The subhead should be an announcement in three or four words of the most significant point in the section of the story which it precedes. The same limitation as to the number of units exists as in any cross-line head. In a story of some length subheads are placed at intervals of about 200 words, and in shorter[Pg 303] stories at intervals of from 100 to 150 words. The insertion of these subheads at comparatively regular intervals makes for symmetry of effect. Significant matter in the story, or an important change of topic, warrants a subhead, regardless of the regularity of the interval. It is generally considered preferable not to place a subhead immediately after a sentence ending with a colon and introducing a quotation, because the subhead interrupts the quotation and appears to be part of it. This difficulty can usually be avoided by placing the subhead just before the introductory sentence, thus:

[Pg 304]

Jump-Heads. When a story is continued from one page to another, a head called a jump-head, or “run-over” head, is placed above the continuation. This jump-head may be either the top deck of the head at the beginning set in the same type or in smaller type, or it may be a new head. Examples of jump-heads follow:

[Pg 305]

Big Heads. In this discussion only one column heads have been considered, but the same general principles apply to the construction of headlines extending over any number of columns. Important news may be given a head of one, two, or three parts extending across the whole front page. Such a head is often called a “banner.”

SUGGESTIONS

1. Get the important facts of the story clearly and accurately in mind before writing the head.
2. Study carefully each kind of headline to find out its possibilities and limitations.
3. Give the story a headline proportionate in size to its importance.
4. Base the head as far as possible on the facts in the lead.
5. Have the tone of the head in keeping with that of the story.
6. Don’t make the head a comment on the news.
7. Avoid trite, hackneyed words or phrases.
8. Make the statement in each deck clear, concise, and specific.
9. Put the most significant fact into the first deck.
10. Use short, specific words in the first deck.
11. Count the unit letters and spaces in every deck.
12. Don’t try to crowd in more units than the space will permit.[Pg 306]
13. Don’t fill out a short line with weak words.
14. Make clear the relation of the statement of each deck to that in the preceding deck.
15. Use only such abbreviations as are commonly to be found in heads.
16. Omit articles and unnecessary auxiliary verbs whenever it is possible.
17. Punctuate only when clearness requires it.
18. Use figures when they are the significant facts.
19. Avoid repetition of words other than connectives.
20. Use the present tense of the verb for past events and the infinitive or future tense for coming ones.
21. Keep the tenses uniform throughout the head.
22. Avoid libelous statements.

PRACTICE WORK

Criticize the following heads and rewrite each, retaining as far as possible the ideas and point of view of the original:

[Pg 307]

[Pg 308]

[Pg 309]

[Pg 310]

[Pg 311]

[Pg 312]

[Pg 313]

[Pg 314]

PROOF-READING

How Proof is Corrected. After copy has been set up in type, the type is put into a long, narrow metal tray called a “galley.” On a small hand or power press a printed sheet of each galley is made, or “pulled,” called a “proof,” or “galley proof.” To “pull a galley proof” is to make a printed copy of the type in the tray.

Each “proof” is carefully compared with the copy so that errors made by compositors or operators in setting up the copy in type may be discovered and corrected. On large newspapers the proof is corrected by proof-readers employed for the purpose, and the proof-reading room is connected with the composing room. Each proof-reader is assisted by a copy-holder who reads in a monotone everything in the copy including punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing, so that the proof-reader may see whether or not the printed form corresponds exactly to the copy. In smaller offices editors and reporters read proof, comparing the printed form with the copy only when it is necessary. Every one who writes for publication should know how to correct proof, so that he may be able to do this work quickly and accurately when occasion demands it.

By the use of a few marks and signs it is easy to indicate clearly just how proof is to be changed and corrected. The least possible change should be made because every correction means a loss of time. When[Pg 316] linotypes are used, every change makes necessary the recasting of one whole line at least, while when monotypes are used, each piece of type must be handled separately. Accordingly, when one or more words have been inadvertently omitted and must be inserted, effort is made to cut out other words of about the same length and not absolutely necessary in the same line, in the preceding line, or in the following one, so that not more than one or two lines will have to be recast or reset to make room for the added words. Likewise, when one or more words must be taken out, others should be inserted in the same line or adjoining lines to fill up the space.

As in the editing of copy, so in the correcting of proof, the changes should be indicated in a manner that makes unmistakable to the compositor the exact character of the modifications. Confused correction of proof, like poor editing of copy, causes loss of time and increases the probability of error.

Errors in proof are most readily detected if a card is used to cover all lines except the one that is being corrected. The card is moved down from line to line as each is read and corrected. By having but one line before him at a time and by scrutinizing sharply every word, the reader more readily catches any errors.

Marks used in Correcting Proof. The proof-reading signs and marks, grouped according to their use, are as follows:

[Pg 317]

[Pg 318]

[Pg 319]

The signs used to indicate changes should always be placed in the margin of the proof-sheets, and only those marks that show what elements are to be changed should be put in or between the lines of the proof-sheets. The marks in the printed lines and the signs in the margin are often joined by a line to show the connection between them. If this is not done, the signs for the corrections in each line are arranged in the margin in the order in which the marks indicating the elements to be changed appear in the printed line, each sign being set off by a line slanting from right to left. How proof is corrected is shown in the following example:

[Pg 320]

[Pg 321]

SUGGESTIONS

1. Read proof word by word.
2. Cover with a card all lines following the one being read.
3. Always compare with copy all names, figures, and unusual terms.
4. Put all correction signs in the margin of proof.
5. Indicate clearly the element to be changed.
6. Make changes and corrections so that they cannot be misunderstood.
7. Watch for errors in punctuation.
8. Be on the lookout for omission of quotation marks.
9. Put in one or more words to fill space created by taking out other words.
10. Take out one or more words to make room for those inserted.
11. Make only such changes as are absolutely necessary.
12. Read proof accurately and rapidly.

MAKING UP THE PAPER

Importance of the “Make-Up.” Although the editing of a newspaper is often regarded as completed when the managing editor has passed upon the proofs of all the matter that the newspaper is to contain, yet the arranging of this material on the several pages, the so-called “making up,” still remains to be done under the direction of one of the editors. The arrangement, or “make-up,” particularly of the front page, plays a very important part in the success of the newspaper. To display the important news of the day in the most effective way is to attract readers. What has been said elsewhere of the advertising value of headlines applies equally to the “make-up.” The best arrangement is that in which the important news stands out prominently, and can therefore be most easily read. A symmetrical balancing of the headlines, half-tones, and cartoons adds greatly to the attractiveness and readableness of the newspaper. Although the average reader does not analyze this element any more than he does any of the other elements of the newspaper that he reads daily, still the “make-up” doubtless leaves an impression upon him.

How the “Make-Up” Varies. Newspaper practice regarding make-up varies as greatly as it does in the case of headlines. The seven-column page is still the normal type, but the eight-column page is rapidly superseding it, because the narrower columns and margins make possible a considerable saving in paper. Some papers[Pg 323] like the New York Sun, the New York Evening Post, the Chicago Daily News, and the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, follow a very simple plan of placing large heads at the top of alternate columns, and of having small heads on all the other stories on the front page, so that the four top heads in the first, third, fifth, and last columns are the only ones that stand out prominently. Other papers, like the Chicago Tribune, put a three-column cartoon in the fourth, fifth, and sixth columns, an arrangement which makes possible large heads in the first, third and last columns and somewhat smaller heads of several decks in the fourth and sixth columns under the cartoon. Still other papers, keeping to the general scheme of alternate columns for large heads, use one-, two-, three-, or four-column cuts of people, places, or events that figure in the news, at the top of the columns and then use slightly smaller heads under these cuts. Two-column heads in the first and second columns are often balanced with two-column heads in the sixth and seventh columns. Some newspapers have practically abandoned the symmetrical arrangement of the front page, and spread headlines in black, red, or green ink, and cuts over the front page in a way that seems to have no other purpose than to produce as bizarre an effect as possible.

Principle of Contrast. The two general principles that underlie the make-up are those of contrast and symmetry. Large heads are alternated at the top of the column with smaller heads so that the large heads will stand out in contrast with the other columns of less prominence. Two or more large heads side by side at the top of the columns do not stand out with as marked effect as when they alternate with smaller heads or no heads at all at the tops of the columns. The same is true when cuts or cartoons serve to furnish the contrast.[Pg 324] With heads not at the top of the columns, effort is made to secure contrast by some form of alternation. A careful study of a number of papers will show a variety of ways in which the principle of contrast determines the arrangement of material on each page.

Principle of Symmetry. That this alternation of the prominent and the less prominent should be closely related to symmetry in arrangement, is evident. In the seven-column form, which is the usual one, the large heads in alternate columns produce a naturally symmetrical effect. When somewhat smaller heads are used lower down on the page, a similar alternation continues to carry out the symmetry. Large two-column heads in the first and second and in the sixth and seventh columns, or smaller two-column ones in the second and third and in the fifth and sixth columns, produce an even balance. In an eight-column page, in which this regular alternation is impossible, some symmetry is often maintained by means of cuts. Many papers do not attempt to have perfect balance on the front page, because of the desire to have the daily cartoon or a cut at the top of the right half of the page where it will attract most attention. Usually when symmetry is sacrificed, the regularity of arrangement is departed from by putting the largest heads, or the illustrations, on the right half of the front page.

Positions of Prominence. The most important news is generally put in the last column to the right on the first page. This is done for two reasons: first, because a long story in this column can run on continuously to the first column of the second page without a jump-head; and second, because, as the papers are laid out on the news stand, the right side of the paper is prominently displayed. This fact accounts for the placing of cuts and cartoons on the right side. If there[Pg 325] are two very important stories carrying larger heads than usual, the one second in importance is put into the first column, partly for symmetry and partly for the reason that, as the paper is read, the first column is prominent. In fact, some papers, especially those that do not count much on street sales, put the most important news in the first column in preference to the last. On all pages except the front one, the first column is usually considered the best.

“Breaking Over” Front Page Stories. In order to preserve the alternation of large heads with smaller ones on the front page, as well as to get as much of the most important news as possible on this page, long stories with large heads are continued from the first page to one of the inside pages. One column of these stories, or often only one-half or two-thirds of a column, is put on the first page, according to the make-up of the lower half of the page, and the remaining part is put with a jump-head on an inside page. When a story is “broken over” from the front page, a dash or rule is put at the end, with the words “Continued on third page” beneath, if the break is at the end of a column; and a dash, or rule, and these words followed by another rule are used if the break is not at the end of a column, the purpose of the second rule being to set off the explanation “Continued on third page,” from the following matter. The jump-heads, as was shown in Chapter XI, are of several kinds: (1) a reproduction of the whole of the original head, (2) a reproduction of the top deck of the original head, or (3) an entirely new head, usually in smaller type than the original one.

Grouping News. Various kinds and forms of news matter are grouped in various ways. Local, state, national, and foreign news is often arranged each kind on a separate page, as is also the society, the sporting, and[Pg 326] the market news. Short one-paragraph news stories, usually with one line of type for a head, are often assembled under such heads as “City News In Brief,” “News of the State,” “Sporting Gossip,” and are arranged in order of size, the smallest being put first, or vice versa. The society news is also frequently arranged in order of size, the longest stories being put at the beginning. In some papers, the heading of these one-paragraph stories, instead of being a separate line, forms a part of the first line of the story and is separated by a dash from the beginning of the story, which fills the remaining third or quarter of the first line.

The “Make-Up” Page by Page. The pages that contain little or no live news matter are made up as far as possible in advance of the first edition of the paper so that they will be out of the way when the news pages are to be arranged. The editorial page, and special pages such as the woman’s page, the theatrical page, the continued story or feature page, can usually be made up, stereotyped, and put on the press ready for printing before the news pages are made up. The first page is, as a rule, made up last, so that all of the very latest news may be given a prominent place. Evening papers that make a special feature of the financial and market page, make up that page last in order to print the closing quotations of the day and to get the papers out on the street as soon as possible after the closing hour of the exchanges.

The Man Who “Makes Up.” The actual work of arranging the type in the page forms is done by the make-up men of the composing room under the direction of one of the editors. On some newspapers the managing editor directs the make-up, on others the assistant managing editor, and on still others the night editor, or the news editor. With a set of proofs at hand[Pg 327] the editor directing the make-up indicates where all the important stories and cuts are to be placed, and then usually allows the make-up men to fill in the shorter matter with the smaller heads. The experienced editor can picture in his mind the appearance of the first page in print, as he directs the arrangement of the masses of type and the cuts. A diagram, or schedule, is usually made out by the editor in advance to indicate the position of the most important news and cuts.

“Making Up” Different Editions. As every large newspaper prints several editions, the page forms, after being stereotyped, are returned to the composing room to be made over for the next edition. On a morning paper the first edition, intended for places at a considerable distance, is made up to leave the composing room about 9.30 in the evening. A second mail edition follows this at about 11.30 P.M., another at 1.30 A.M., and the regular city edition at about 2.30 or 3.30 A.M.

On an afternoon paper the first edition may be made up at 6 o’clock in the morning, and other editions may follow at intervals of about two hours throughout the day. Generally, however, the noon edition, made up about 10.30, is the first. This is followed by a mail edition made up at about 12.30; by the home edition for distribution by carriers made up at 2.30; and by the market edition made up at about 3.15, or as soon as the closing quotations are received from the leading exchanges all over the country. The sporting extra, following the market edition, is made up the instant the complete score is received of the baseball game in which the local team played, or whenever the result of the most important sporting event of the day is announced. Following the sporting edition, many afternoon papers get out a special mail edition, dated the following morning,[Pg 328] for distribution to distant points in competition with the earliest mail edition of the morning papers.

In making up the several editions, it is desirable to change as few pages as possible in order to save time and to avoid additional stereotyping. When arranging the news on the inside pages for the first edition, the editor can make up some of the news pages so that they need not be made over for several editions at least. The front page is made over for each edition and usually one or two inside pages. As the value of news changes considerably in the five or six hours between the first and the last editions, the longer stories with large heads that occupy prominent places on the front page in the earlier editions are often cut down, given smaller heads, and put in less conspicuous places when later news requires the best position. Front-page stories of the first editions often go over into the inside pages with headlines unchanged, sometimes with the story cut down and sometimes in the original form. Often only the top deck of the head is rewritten to be set in smaller type, and one or two of the decks are cut off to reduce the size and prominence of the head.

Composing-Room Terms. In the composing-room the editor in charge of the make-up finds a number of technical terms in common use in addition to those pertaining to type that are explained in Chapter X.

When all the “takes,” or pieces, of copy have been given out to the linotype operators or compositors, the copy is said to be “all in hand”; when it is all in type, or all set, it is said to be “all up.” Each operator puts a “slug” containing his number at the beginning of matter that he sets as his take. Advertisements are set in the part of the composing-room known as the “ad alley.” Matter set by hand or on a linotype machine is arranged by “bank men” in proper order in[Pg 329] galleys on a “bank,” or sloping shelf. After type has been used or has been killed, it is “distributed” by hand, letter by letter, into the cases. Linotype slugs, and usually all type smaller than 12-point that is cast on a monotype, are thrown into the “hell-box” to be taken to the stereotyping-room and melted up, so that the metal can be used again.

Page forms are made up on the “stone,” a smooth table top, formerly of stone, now of metal. Forms are “justified” to make all of the columns exactly the same length by inserting leads here and there between the lines when a column is too short, and by taking out a few leads when it is too long. After being “justified,” the forms are “planed down,” or leveled, with a “planer,” or wooden block, which is tapped with a mallet to force all type and cuts down to the level surface of the stone. Type that does not stand squarely on its base is said to be “off its feet.” The forms are “locked” by means of screws, or of wedges known as “quoins.” After the first page form is thus “closed,” it may have to be “ripped open” for late news. The forms are “put away” when they are sent to the stereotyping-room.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Observe carefully the “make-up” of representative newspapers in different parts of the country.
2. Study the “make-up” of your own paper.
3. Display the important news in a conspicuous position on the front page.
4. Arrange the front page to secure as much symmetry as possible.
5. Put the most important news story in the last, or outside, column of the first page.
6. Place the second best story in the first column of the front page.
7. Break over into the inside pages front-page stories of more than a column in length.[Pg 330]
8. Alternate large and small heads at the top of the columns for contrast.
9. Remember that the upper right hand quarter of the first page is the most conspicuous.
10. Group on separate pages market, society, sporting, state, foreign, and other distinct kinds of news.
11. See that all guide lines are taken out when the type is assembled in the form.
12. Don’t use any matter before it is “released.”
13. Have some good two or three line “fillers” on hand.
14. Don’t “hold over” or “kill” really live news matter.
15. Remember that the number of street sales depends considerably upon the “make-up” of the front page.

THE FUNCTION OF THE NEWSPAPER

The Newspaper Worker and His Work. Any discussion of newspaper writing and editing would be incomplete if it did not consider the function of the newspaper and the relation of the newspaper worker to that function. In this presentation of methods of newspaper making the object has been to explain and to exemplify current practices in journalism rather than to discuss the ultimate purpose and results of such methods. It is evident, however, that unless the reporter and the editor, consciously or unconsciously, set up for themselves ideals based on their conception of the function of the newspaper, they have no standards by which to measure the character of their work. Merely to accept existing methods without analyzing them to determine their results, is to overlook their underlying purpose. Not until a reporter or an editor realizes the effect that his news story or his headline produces upon the opinions, and hence upon the lives, of the thousands of persons who read it, does he appreciate the full significance of his work. Ideals and standards for any kind of work appeal much more strongly to the average worker when he knows the ultimate effect of what he is doing.

The Newspaper and the Community. Like all other undertakings, public and private, newspaper making tends to conform to the current ideals and tastes of the community. As far as it is a private business enterprise, it is influenced by the conditions and the[Pg 332] practices prevailing in the business world. As a medium of information and publicity, it is measured by the standards of the community in which it circulates. It is a product of its environment, and at the same time it is a force in creating that environment.

Conditions in newspaper making to-day are the outgrowth of the journalism of preceding generations. The changes that have produced these conditions are to a considerable extent the results of social, political, and economic forces. A brief survey of the development of newspaper editing and publishing, with special reference to present problems in journalism, will help to a better understanding of the function of the newspaper of to-day.

Growth of the Business Element. In the last seventy-five years in this country, the editing and the managing of newspapers have undergone a significant development. From being a comparatively simple undertaking, newspaper publishing has become a big, complex, highly organized enterprise. In 1835 it was possible for one man, James Gordon Bennett, Sr., to start the New York Herald with a cash capital of $500, and to perform the greater part of the work connected with its publication, for the owner-editor’s duties ranged from editorial writing to keeping books, from gathering police news to making out bills, and from commenting on conditions in Wall Street to writing advertisements. The first instance of ownership of a newspaper by an incorporated stock company came ten years later when Horace Greeley and Thomas M’Elrath, editor and business manager respectively of the New York Tribune, decided to share their personal ownership of that paper with five assistant editors and with the five employees of the business and mechanical departments who had been connected with the Tribune[Pg 333] for the longest time. This joint ownership plan Greeley and his assistants hoped would in time result in the “still further application of the general principle that the workman should be his own employer and director, and should receive the full reward of his labor.” The amount raised by this stock company, $100,000, was considered at that time a very large sum to be devoted to newspaper publishing. How rapidly the conditions of newspaper making changed is shown by the fact that less than thirty years after the New York Tribune was incorporated with its shares at $100 each, these shares sold for as much as $10,000 each, and in 1869, less than thirty-five years after the New York Herald began with $500 cash capital, Bennett refused an offer of $2,000,000 for his paper. Within the lifetime of these two great editor-publishers newspaper making had become a big business enterprise.

Newspapers Require Large Capital. During the last quarter of a century the amount of capital required for success in newspaper publishing has been further increased by the need for huge presses, expensive linotypes and other type-casting machines, and more elaborate stereotyping apparatus, as well as for better news service, new special features, and more numerous illustrations. Expensive additions to the mechanical equipment and other exigencies often make it necessary for the newspaper company, like other business enterprises, to secure financial assistance by borrowing considerable sums from banks. Such has become the magnitude of the business side of the newspaper that ownership by stock companies is the rule to-day instead of the exception as it was in 1845. Not infrequently the majority of the stock of a newspaper is held by one man or in one family, and one person, often known as the publisher-owner, directs the publishing.[Pg 334] In large cities the amount of capital required to establish and maintain a daily newspaper is so great that the publisher-owner must be a man of considerable wealth. Stock in newspaper companies, however, is not held exclusively by those directly connected with the paper. From the point of view of the stockholders of a newspaper company, who are not directly connected with the newspaper and who are interested in it largely if not entirely as an investment, the important consideration is that the newspaper shall be profitable, that dividends shall be adequate and regular. In short, newspaper publishing has become a large business undertaking subject to the conditions of big business enterprises.

Increase in Advertising. Another important factor in newspaper publication, that has developed in the last twenty-five years almost step by step with the increased cost, has been the remarkable growth of newspaper advertising. With growing combination and competition in business, managers of great retail stores discovered that daily news of their establishments, in the form of description of new goods, bargains, and special prices and sales, was read by many with as much interest as were other kinds of news. Newspaper advertising of this kind has proved very profitable both to the advertiser and to the paper.

Half-page, full-page, and even two-page advertisements of department stores and other retail business concerns have necessitated an increase in the size of regular editions of daily papers from eight pages to twelve, sixteen, or twenty-four pages. The number of classified advertisements, such as “want ads,” has also increased greatly within recent years. The large revenues from all forms of advertising have made it possible to give the reader a better paper as well as a bigger[Pg 335] one, and at the same time to reduce the price generally from three or five cents to one or two cents a copy. The reduction in price, in turn, has resulted in remarkable gains in circulation. Whereas a generation ago 50,000 copies daily was considered a very large circulation, we now have newspapers printing daily editions of from 150,000 to 900,000 copies. Thus, although the cost of producing the newspaper has constantly increased, the price to the reader has been reduced.

The result of these readjustments has been that from two thirds to three quarters of the cost of maintaining a newspaper comes from the advertising, and only from one quarter to one third from subscriptions and sales. This means that when a man buys a penny paper, he is buying for one cent what it costs three or four cents to produce, and that the difference between the cost and the price he pays is paid for by the advertisers.

Decline of Personal Journalism. Coincident with the change in the financial organization of newspapers, significant changes have taken place in the editing of them. Two generations ago the owner-editor who established a newspaper with a limited amount of capital, as Greeley did the Tribune, was the real head of his paper, who expressed vigorously his own opinions in its editorial columns. Personal journalism, as the expression of the political, social, and economic beliefs of great editors, like Greeley, Bennett, Bowles, Raymond, Dana, and Godkin, was an important influence in American life. These men were recognized as leaders. The opinions set forth in their editorials were accepted by readers as significant contributions to the solution of current problems. In short, it was a period of great editorial leadership.

With the development of the telegraph, the telephone, and the railroad mail service, and with the expansion[Pg 336] of the nation and its interests, the amount of news available for publication increased many fold. Distance, once a formidable obstacle to newsgathering, practically ceased to exist when news could be flashed in a few minutes from one end of the world to the other. The news field was enlarged from the city and its suburbs to include the whole earth. The newspaper became truly a paper of news, a budget of facts rather than a medium for expressing the editor’s opinions. As a purveyor of the news, it increased in circulation and prosperity. With an ample supply of facts upon which to base their opinions, the readers no longer needed to accept opinions ready-made from the editor. With greater independence in thinking and in voting on the part of the reading public the editorial leadership of the newspapers declined. At present the three or four columns of editorials are relatively unimportant as compared with the ten or twelve pages of news. To-day the names of the editors are unknown to the majority of the readers. Company ownership has contributed toward minimizing the opportunities of personal editorship, until now it is said that personal journalism, in the old sense of the term, has all but ceased to exist in this country.

Wars Develop Newspapers. In the gathering of news and in the effective presenting of it, the two most important influences have been the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The great demand from readers of all classes for the latest reports from the front during the War of the Rebellion was a great stimulus to newspaper editors and publishers. The beginning of the present summary “lead,” and of the long bulletin form of headline for news stories, is to be found in connection with the telegraph dispatches of war news. The advent of “yellow journalism,” especially in New York[Pg 337] City, coincided with the breaking-out of the Spanish-American War. Big headlines, and news displayed in larger type, served to advertise the latest reports, which the public eagerly sought. The climax of large headlines is found in two metropolitan newspapers which announced the declaration of hostilities with the single word “WAR,” spread over the whole of the front page. Banner heads in red and black, and large headlines two and three columns in width, that are now not uncommon in newspapers as a means of advertising the news, had their beginning in the Spanish-American War days.

The Growth of Cities. The growth in the population of cities, partly as a result of the movement from the country to the city, and partly as a result of immigration, has made possible large increases in newspaper circulation. New papers have not been established generally to meet this growth in population; existing papers, rather, have added to the number of their readers. The result has been that a few large papers are to be found in all the big cities of the country rather than an ever-increasing number of small ones. In great centres of population, like New York and Chicago, the influx of foreign immigrants has also been a factor in the development of so-called “yellow journalism.” With a limited knowledge of the English language and of American institutions, this foreign element has been attracted by large, striking headlines, sensational news stories, diagrammatic illustrations, and well-displayed editorials, and has become a considerable part of the total number of readers of the “yellow journals.”

The Development of Features. Hand in hand with the remarkable growth of advertising in newspapers has gone the development of important features in the editing of them. The success of department store advertisements, for example, depends to a considerable[Pg 338] extent on the number of women readers. To secure and retain these readers, newspapers have, accordingly, developed a number of features primarily intended for women. Fashion news, cooking and household recipes, discussions of etiquette, articles on health and beauty, advice in affairs of the heart, society news, reports of women’s clubs, and similar subjects have been given greater space from year to year because of the constantly growing importance of women readers as a factor in the business success of the newspaper.

The increase in the amount of advertising has made possible also the expansion, in size and scope, of the Sunday paper. Special articles, fiction, humor, and illustrations in black and colors, fill special supplements, magazine sections, and “comics.” In fact, aside from the news sections, the reading matter in Sunday newspapers has become practically identical in character with that of the popular weekly and monthly magazines.

Reading matter the primary purpose of which is entertainment rather than information has always had a place in daily papers. Despite the great increase in the amount of news available, this kind of material has not been crowded out. The daily short story, a chapter of a serial novel, feature articles, humor in verse and prose, and similar forms of entertaining reading matter are a recognized part of every issue of many newspapers in all parts of the country.

The perfecting of photo-engraving processes, by which half-tone illustrations and zinc etchings can be made rapidly at relatively small cost, has added another important feature to the newspaper. Photographs of persons, places, and events that appear in the day’s news are now quickly reproduced by the newspaper half-tone. Cartoons printed by means of zinc etchings occupy a prominent place in many papers.

[Pg 339]

Aims of the Newspaper. The present-day newspaper, as a result of this evolution, undertakes to accomplish five ends: (1) to furnish news, (2) to interpret the news and to discuss current issues, (3) to give useful information and practical advice, (4) to supply entertaining reading matter, and (5) to serve as an advertising medium. The primary purpose of the newspaper is undoubtedly to furnish news and editorial discussions; the secondary one to supply useful information and entertaining reading matter. These results, however, can be accomplished with the present small cost to the reader only by reason of the fact that the newspaper is a valuable purveyor of advertising publicity.

The interrelation between the advertising matter and the other contents of the newspaper is a vital one. The value of newspaper advertisements is determined by the number and the character of the persons who read the “ads,” that is, by the circulation of the newspaper. The circulation, in turn, depends on the amount and the character of the news and other features of the newspaper. Increases in circulation make possible higher advertising rates, and higher rates produce larger revenues from advertisements. The greater income received from advertising and circulation is generally used to increase and improve the reading matter. Decreases in advertising revenues usually mean retrenchment in expenses and a reduction of reading matter. If this reduction in news and other features of the newspaper is marked, the paper will lose readers. Advertising, circulation, and the character of the contents of a newspaper are thus closely bound up with one another.

Recognition of Its Public Function. That in its primary purpose, of furnishing the news of the day with an interpretation of it and a discussion of current[Pg 340] issues, the newspaper is a public institution, has been recognized from earliest times both in this country and abroad. Although the American newspaper has at all times been a private enterprise, its public function has always been emphasized. In guaranteeing the freedom of the press, the framers of the first amendments to the Constitution realized that it is necessary in a democracy to have full information and free discussion on all questions, social, economic, and political. They believed as did Milton when he wrote, in his great defense of liberty of the press addressed to the English Parliament at the very dawn of English journalism, “Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity must be much arguing, much writing, many opinions, for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.”

The responsibility of the press to the public has been repeatedly emphasized. In condemning the appointment of editors to public office as a means of securing their support, Daniel Webster, in 1832, declared: “In popular governments, a free press is the most important of all agents and instruments. The conductors of the press, in popular governments, occupy a place in the social and political system of highest consequence. They wear the character of public instructors.”

That the newspapers are the teachers of the people has been reiterated on the platform, in the pulpit, and in the newspapers themselves. Wendell Phillips, a generation ago, in speaking of the importance of newspapers in this country, said: “It is a momentous, yes, a fearful truth, that millions have no literature, no schools, almost no pulpit but the press. It is parent, school, college, pulpit, theatre, example, counselor, all in one. Let me make the newspapers, and I care not who makes the religion or the laws.”

[Pg 341]

The Function of Newspapers in a Democracy. To accept this generally recognized function of the newspaper as the distributor of information on all the varied subjects presented in the day’s news, is to give the newspaper a place of great responsibility in a democracy like ours. If we consider only its news-distributing function and disregard editorial influence, the place of the newspaper is still a vital one in our country, for the success of a democratic form of government depends upon intelligent action by the individual voter. Such voting must be based upon accurate information concerning all important events of the day,—events of a social, commercial, and industrial significance, as well as those of political import,—because many of the important questions upon which the voter should cast an intelligent ballot concern economic and social problems rather than purely political ones. Practically the only source of information for the average voter concerning local, national, and international events, is the newspaper.

The rapidly increasing tendency of citizens in voting to disregard party affiliations, and the recent extension of methods of direct making of laws by means of the initiative and the referendum, require that citizens have accurate information on a great variety of subjects to enable them to vote intelligently on men and issues. Any influence that tends to affect the accuracy of statements concerning current events thereby tends to affect the basis underlying the opinions of the voters. Upon the accuracy of the newspapers in matters of news, therefore, depends to a great extent the character of our government.

Limitations to Accuracy and Completeness. Absolute accuracy in gathering and presenting the news is subject to human limitations. Seldom do two eye-witnesses from whom the reporter gets information[Pg 342] agree in their accounts of what happened. The reporter must judge of the value of the testimony of each witness, and must make up a composite account of the truth as he sees it in these different narratives. The copy-reader, in editing the reporter’s story, frequently finds it necessary to cut it down considerably because of the importance of other news. Again the accuracy of the report may be affected by reason of this “boiling down.” The headline writer, working under strict limitations of space, may modify the impression produced upon the reader by the original story. Even on the mechanical side the accuracy of the news may be affected by a careless compositor or proof-reader. The rapidity with which all the processes of newspaper making are performed greatly increases the possibility of error. The personal equation, for which allowance is made in all scientific and technical work, enters into every part of the process of newspaper making, from the gathering and writing of the news by the reporter, through the editing of it and the writing of a headline for it, to the compositor, proof-reader, and make-up man. The chances of printing inaccurate statements under such conditions may be reduced to a minimum only by the exercise of the greatest possible care on the part of all those concerned in the rapid production of newspapers, but mistakes of this type can never be entirely eliminated.

Failure to give a complete report of the day’s news is due in part to the amount of news available. Inasmuch as the average newspaper in a large city receives from two to three times as much news daily as it can publish, it is necessary for editors to select from the available news, and to decide quickly which news is the most important for their readers. The fact that this news comes in by mail, telephone, and telegraph, as well as from reporters, at intervals throughout the day and[Pg 343] the night, makes it impossible for the editors to judge with absolute accuracy of the relative value of each piece of news as it is received. Consequently news values are constantly being readjusted as each important piece of news reaches the office. In the final decision in regard to what news shall be printed, what shall be omitted, and how much space shall be given to each piece of news that is published, the personal judgment of the editors is the determining factor.

Besides inaccuracy and incompleteness in presenting the news of the day due to the personal judgment of those responsible for the making of the newspaper, other forms of suppression or distortion of news are to be found in newspaper publishing due to the influence of various forces. It is to these influences that peculiar significance attaches from the point of view of the ethics of newspaper publishing, because in such cases the incomplete and inaccurate presentation of the news is deliberate.

Some Sinister Influences. The forces that make for the suppression and the “coloring” of news as well as for the restriction of editorial independence, critics of newspapers assert, are the result of the changes in business and editorial management during the last seventy-five years. The charge is made that too many newspapers are “edited from the counting-room.” Business interests, it is said, particularly those of advertisers, influence news and editorials. Because of stock company ownership and the absence of editorial management by men known to the public, as were the editors in the days of personal journalism, wealthy men or corporations, it is charged, have been able quietly to buy up the stock of some newspapers and through hired editors, of whom in these days the public knows nothing, to direct secretly the news and editorial policies[Pg 344] for personal advantage. Some banks, these critics declare, have refused loans to newspapers the policies of which were inimical to the interests largely represented among the stockholders or the customers of the banks; and when loans have been made to newspapers by other banks, such indebtedness has sometimes been used to prevent the newspapers from maintaining or adopting policies hostile to their interests. So-called “yellow journalism,” critics of newspapers point out, furnishes another example of the commercializing of the press, because, in order to increase their circulation and profits, the publishers of “yellow” journals pander to their readers’ cravings for the sensational. A number of newspapers have published advertisements of fraudulent and questionable enterprises because of the additional revenues to be obtained from this source. Whether these charges are true of a number of newspapers or of only a few, the existence of these conditions and the possibility of these dangers make the subject one of vital importance not only to newspaper men but to every citizen of the country.

Suppression of News. If, for example, owners of retail stores request newspapers in which they advertise to suppress all news of elevator accidents in their stores because such news hurts their business, the newspaper publishers might consent to this suppression on the ground that it is more important to retain the good will and patronage of these advertisers than to give their readers the news of the accidents. The very existence of the paper, they may argue, depends upon these advertisers, and, after all, newspapers give their readers the accounts of so many other accidents that those concerning elevators in department stores will never be missed. This seems to be a logical argument for omitting news of this kind, but when the results of such suppression[Pg 345] are traced, the action, it is realized, is unjustifiable. In the first place, elevator accidents are often due to carelessness and haste on the part of passengers, and newspaper accounts of them accordingly serve to warn many people to be more careful. Thus the publication of the news helps to prevent accidents. Again, the accidents may be due in part to the employment of young, inexperienced, or careless operators. When it is proposed to correct these difficulties by a local ordinance or by a state law providing that elevator operators must be over eighteen years of age and must be licensed as competent, the importance of passing such a regulation is more evident to the average voter if he knows of the frequency of such accidents. The suppression of news of these accidents would deprive most citizens of knowledge upon which to base an opinion as to the need of laws governing elevator operators.

The business interests of some cities, it is said, have urged newspapers to suppress the news of epidemics or threatened epidemics of such diseases as typhoid fever, smallpox, and even bubonic plague, because reports of the presence of these diseases in a city keep away travelers and hurt business. At first glance this plea might seem a just one, and records show that it has been successful in a number of instances. But the question inevitably arises, Has not the tourist, the buyer, and every one else who is planning to go to that particular city a right to know of the health conditions that prevail there, in order to decide whether he wishes to expose himself to the possibility of sickness and death? Again, Has not every citizen and voter of the city a right to know of these conditions, not only that he may protect himself and his family, but that he with other citizens and voters may remedy the conditions responsible[Pg 346] for the epidemic and may provide for stamping it out? Reformers in some cities have declared that local newspapers have refused to give publicity to campaigns against graft and vice because the exposure of such conditions, the publishers said, would reflect on the reputation of the city and would hurt business. Others have said that newspapers have reported and upheld investigations of municipal corruption as long as those affected by such exposure were persons of little influence or importance in the community, and that as soon as more important business interests were threatened by the investigations, the attitude of the newspapers changed completely. The question to consider is, Should the business interests of the city be paramount to the welfare of all the people? The vital questions for editors to decide must be, Are newspapers in such cases doing their duty as distributors of complete and accurate reports of the news of the day? Are they not morally responsible when they fail to perform this duty?

“Coloring” the News. The so-called “coloring” or “shading” of news is in the same category as the suppression of news. It is possible to change the facts more or less completely so that a story not only is incomplete but produces a false impression on the mind of the reader. The sin is then no longer one of omission; it becomes one of commission. To belittle the campaign of the opposing political party, newspapers have misrepresented the size of the political meetings, the enthusiasm of the audiences, the arguments of the speakers, and in general, the success of the efforts to win votes. Candidates, likewise, have been assailed and misrepresented in news stories. In economic disturbances, such as strikes and lockouts, some newspapers have given their readers colored reports by “playing up” the disorder of the strikers, their threats of violence,[Pg 347] and their unreasonableness in refusing terms of settlement. Other newspapers, representing the labor interests, have printed “shaded” reports to show that employers have treated their men unjustly, that the militia has been brutal, and officers of the law unfair to strikers.

Newspaper editors and publishers, in these and other instances, often maintain that they only print what their readers want. The questions involved, therefore, are, Do readers want unbiased news reports of the events of the day, or do they prefer to have them “colored” or “shaded” to favor the side in which they as a class are interested? Does the business man who takes a conservative, well-edited newspaper want news stories written to suit his point of view? Does the workingman who buys the Socialist daily or the labor union daily really want his news “shaded” to favor the cause of labor? In the case of a strike in which business or manufacturing interests are involved, do not both employers and employees want the actual facts as an unprejudiced reporter sees them? If readers do want “colored” news in such cases, are editors justified in departing from the truth in order to satisfy them?

Some men of wealth and some big business corporations have undoubtedly bought existing newspapers or have established new ones, secretly or openly, with the evident intention of using news and editorial columns to advance their own interests. Ambition to secure political office or power has obviously been the purpose of some of these men. Creation of public opinion favorable to their business interests has undoubtedly been the aim of other men and of corporations. Suppression of unfavorable news, and the “coloring” of other news to make it more favorable, as well as editorial argument and comment, are the means used to accomplish these[Pg 348] ends. In one notorious example in a large city in the Middle West, reporters and editors were furnished with a list of certain business enterprises that were not to be mentioned in any unfavorable connection in the news, because the owner of the paper was financially interested in these enterprises. Although men and corporations have a right to present their side of any case through the medium of the newspapers, and although there may be no valid objection to the ownership or control of newspapers by men with political ambitions or by corporations, it is plain that such ownership and control are fraught with danger to public welfare by reason of the public opinion thus created.

Making News “Yellow.” “Yellow journalism,” it is conceded, has been developed largely by furnishing the readers with sensational phases of the day’s events. In order to make the everyday news seem more startling, large headlines with bold-face type printed in black, green, and red have blazoned forth the striking facts of the news. Sensational news stories of all kinds have constantly been “played up” prominently. When the facts were not particularly unusual or striking, they have been “colored” to seem so. This “sensationalizing” of the news has been the result of an effort to attract large numbers of readers and by enlarging circulation to increase profits. The effect on the readers of this giving over of a large part of the news columns to sensational news, and this “coloring” of news to make it more sensational, is, of course, to give them a distorted idea of current events. To what extent this distorted view of life affects the relation of these readers to society is the question to be determined in analyzing the effects of “yellow journalism.”

Three Causes. The three principal reasons for suppressing or coloring news, as we have seen, therefore,[Pg 349] are: (1) the desire of the owners of the newspaper to use it to advance their own private interests or those of their party or faction; (2) the influence of advertisers and other business interests that wish to protect their own enterprises; (3) the effort to make the news more attractive and sensational than it really is in order to gain readers.

Effects of Adulterated News. Whatever may be the reason for the “coloring” or the suppression of news, the effect of this distortion or suppression upon the opinions and the votes of citizens is a matter of sufficient importance to the people generally to warrant careful consideration, not only by citizens but by newspaper men themselves. If the social and political interests of the community are vitally affected by news furnished in the newspapers, as has been shown in the examples given, publishers cannot claim that the purpose of the newspapers is to sell as many copies as possible, to get as much advertising as possible, and to give the people what they want to read, rather than to furnish their readers with a record of the interesting and significant activities of the day, as complete and accurate as it can be made. Like common carriers, such as railroads, the newspapers have a public function as well as the private one of making money, and that public function is to furnish news, the commodity in which they deal, in a complete and accurate form.

News adulterated and “colored” is as harmful to the opinions of newspaper readers as impure and poisonous food is to their physical constitutions. Before pure food legislation prohibited adulterating, coloring, and misbranding of foods, the buyer was at the mercy of the unscrupulous manufacturer, just as the newspaper reader is at the mercy of the unscrupulous newspaper maker. Although public sentiment has demanded[Pg 350] laws to prevent impure food, it has not yet insisted that its food for thought be furnished unadulterated. A generation ago government regulation of railroad rates, foodstuffs, and the size of business combinations would have been regarded as unjustifiable interference with personal liberty. To-day any government interference with newspapers is considered as an attack on the freedom of the press. Is it not possible that the next generation may see every newspaper of this country compelled by public opinion, if not by legislation, to give complete, unbiased reports of all events of general interest?

Questionable Advertisements. As an advertising medium, the newspaper also has an obligation to the community. By giving widespread publicity in their advertising columns to fraudulent investment schemes, dangerous patent nostrums, disreputable medical practitioners, and other objectionable matter, some newspapers, doubtless unintentionally, have aided in grossly deceiving and seriously injuring the reading public that they claimed to serve. For such practices the excuse has been offered that the business of the newspaper is to sell advertising space to any one who will buy it, and that it is not the business of advertising managers and publishers to investigate the truthfulness or moral character of the advertisements that they publish. Realization by newspapers of the fact that by printing objectionable advertising they may cause great harm to their readers has led many of them to reject entirely all forms of questionable advertisement even though to do so has, in some instances, cut off annually from $50,000 to $200,000 of possible revenue.

Honesty in Journalism. The discussion of these various undesirable tendencies in newspaper making, and the presentation of these criticisms of some newspapers,[Pg 351] do not imply that all newspaper editors and publishers have subordinated public welfare to private gain, or that all have permitted sinister external influences to affect their news and editorial policies. Neither is it to be assumed that these questionable methods are necessary for business success in newspaper publishing. There are many notable examples of honest, independent newspapers that have enjoyed marked financial success. In fact, a careful survey of the whole country would doubtless show that few newspapers that have continued to juggle with the truth in news and editorials have been permanently successful in making money or in keeping the confidence of their readers. Lincoln’s words are as true of newspapers as of politicians, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

The stronger a newspaper grows because of the size and the character of its circulation, and because of the money value of the good will thus acquired, the more independent it becomes of the external influences that may seek to modify its news and editorial policy. Unless such papers are maintained to represent special business or political interests, well-established papers with adequate capital behind them are not likely to be affected by the demands of advertisers or other outside forces. Strong, independent newspapers can publish the facts in the news and can print editorial comments without fear or favor.

Unfortunately the rapidly increasing cost of newspaper production has reduced the margin of profit of a large number of newspapers to a point where the loss of any considerable amount of advertising or other support means financial failure. Under such circumstances, publishers have yielded to pressure from various interests[Pg 352] and have made concessions which doubtless they would not have done if they had been in positions of greater financial independence. A few editors and publishers have simply regarded newspaper making as an enterprise in no wise different from business and politics, and have accepted the less commendable standards that have resulted from competition in business and rivalry in politics. Whatever the explanation that is offered for deliberate failure to give newspaper readers the truth, it must not be regarded as condoning the offense, however great or slight.

The Reporter and His Problems. The student of journalism should know the conditions as they exist, so that he may face the problems squarely and choose deliberately the course that he desires to pursue. Too often reporters, editors, or publishers have not weighed fully the ultimate effects produced by suppressing or coloring the news. It is only by full consideration of the public function of the newspaper as a factor in the social and political life of the community that the true significance of dealing lightly with the truth as a crime against society is revealed in unmistakable colors.

Although the news policy of the newspaper is determined by those above him in authority, the reporter must decide his own attitude toward that policy. If he finds that he cannot conscientiously accept the ideas and ideals of his superiors because these do not conform to his own standards of truth and honesty, he must look for a position on a paper that does conform to those standards. A man cannot retain his self-respect if he undertakes to do work that he believes to be false or dishonest.

On any newspaper, however, the reporter finds himself confronted with various problems that involve the public function of the newspaper. He may be requested[Pg 353] by an acquaintance, or by some person with whom his work brings him into contact, to suppress, as a whole or in part, a piece of news that it falls to his lot to report. Men and women threatened with exposure or disgrace because of one wrong step, will plead with him to spare them and their families by suppressing the news of their downfall. In all such cases the reporter will do well to refer the request to his superiors and to avoid promising to suppress any news. Older and more experienced newspaper men in positions of authority on the paper are usually better able to judge of the desirability of yielding to requests and pleas of this kind than is the young reporter.

How “Faking” Does Harm. In collecting and presenting facts the reporter should make every reasonable effort to have them as complete and accurate as possible. He is not justified in defending his failure to get and present the truth and the whole truth on the ground that as long as a story is interesting it makes little difference whether or not it is entirely true. The first temptation to depart from the truth not infrequently comes in an apparently innocent form. In the absence of real news, or in an effort to show his cleverness, the reporter takes some trivial incident and, by amplifying it with humorous but imaginary details, makes of it an amusing little feature story. Such stories often seem quite harmless in their effects on the readers or on the persons mentioned in the stories. Instances are on record, however, of persons who have committed suicide because their acquaintances bantered them about the ridiculous situations in which they had been portrayed in such newspaper stories. The reporter must remember that the persons who play a part in his stories are human beings with feelings, and that to hold them up before thousands of readers in a ridiculous situation[Pg 354] may cause them much suffering. But besides any effect it may have on particular individuals, this embroidering of the truth with fictitious fancies, even when it does not deceive the reader in the least, tends to form in the reporter the habit of embellishing all his stories with imaginary details. Thus it becomes the first step in so-called “faking.”

Newspaper “faking” often appeals to the young reporter as clever and commendable, particularly when he hears older newspaper men tell stories of successful “fakes.” The “cub” may even hear his humorous little feature story praised for its cleverness by his superiors who know that it is largely imaginary. If he does not stop to consider, he may consciously or unconsciously decide that fiction makes better news than truth, and may proceed to write his stories accordingly. Encouraged by some other newspaper man’s account of a similar exploit, he “fakes” an interview when he fails to get one that has been assigned to him. His “fake” interview may deceive the city editor, and when printed may not be repudiated by the man falsely quoted. Although apparently a success from the reporter’s point of view, the “fake” story injures him more than he realizes, for it dulls his moral sense, makes less keen his appreciation of the difference between truth and falsehood. If his superiors discover the deception, they lose confidence in his reliability and may discharge him at once. If his identity is known to the victim of the “fake,” the reporter loses that man’s respect and often makes him an enemy, from whom he cannot hope to secure news in the future. In fact, “faking” is another term for “lying” and the reporter guilty of it deserves to be called by the “short and ugly word.”

Furthermore, every “fake,” whether it deceives few or many, lowers both the newspaper that publishes it[Pg 355] and newspapers generally in the estimation of all who know that it is false. Stories recognized by the reader as untrue, either as a whole or in part, shake his confidence in the truth of all newspaper reports and lead him to discount all the news that he reads. Thus the value of the press as a source of reliable information is seriously impaired. From whatever point of view “faking” is regarded, therefore, it is indefensible. It hurts the guilty writer; it hurts the victim of “the fake”; it hurts the newspaper that publishes it; it hurts journalism generally.

The Dangers of Inaccuracy. Inaccuracy due to carelessness or failure to verify facts is less reprehensible because it is not deliberate, but it is nevertheless a form of misrepresentation that in its results may be as bad as “faking.” An error made by a reporter in the initials or spelling of the name of a person charged with some crime has often injured an innocent man or woman whose name happened to be the same as the incorrect form of the real criminal’s name. In one instance, a firm spent hundreds of dollars in sending out letters contradicting an erroneous newspaper report of its failure, the error having been due to the reporter’s carelessness in confusing the solvent firm with an insolvent one engaged in the same business and having the same name except for different initials. In such cases the newspaper is put in an embarrassing position by its careless reporter, and is compelled to make a public retraction of his mistake. Even if he is not discharged, he is not likely thereafter to be entrusted with important assignments, and everything that he does will be carefully scrutinized until he has established a reputation for accuracy.

If reporters and correspondents remember that every story they write not only affects themselves, their newspapers,[Pg 356] and the persons they write about, but also contributes toward forming the readers’ opinions, they will consider carefully whether or not they can afford to permit haste and carelessness to impair the completeness and accuracy of their work. Although they are at the foot of the journalistic ladder when they begin their work, reporters and correspondents should realize that upon the character of their work in gathering and writing the news depend, to some extent, at least, the opinions of the citizens and voters who read their paper.

How Editors Determine the News Policy. The editors of the news, by determining what shall be printed and how it shall be printed, naturally have greater responsibility for the general character of the newspaper than have the reporters. The editor’s failure to verify facts in the work of reporters and correspondents means that any errors in such work receive his approval and he thereby becomes responsible for them. The results of faithful, accurate reporting, on the other hand, may be entirely destroyed by the editor’s efforts to make the news more striking and sensational. By their instructions to reporters, correspondents, and copy-readers, editors directly determine the character of the newspaper. When an editor tells a reporter, a rewrite man, or a copy-reader to play up a certain “feature” in a news story, he determines to a considerable extent what the effect of that piece of news will be upon the readers. By cutting out important details, by shifting the emphasis from one particular to another, by inserting a word here and there, editors and copy-readers may completely alter the impression made by the news. The size and character of the headline given a story produce quite as great an impression on the reader as the story itself. Headlines, as has already been pointed out, have played no small part in so-called “yellow[Pg 357] journalism.” All that has been said of the importance of giving readers complete and accurate news reports, and of the evils growing out of suppressing or distorting the news, applies quite as much to editors and copy-readers as it does to reporters and correspondents.

The Newspaper Worker’s Problem. A vital question for every one engaged in newspaper writing or editing is whether or not he will obey the orders of his superiors when these orders do not square with his own standards of truth and right. The reporter must decide the question when the city editor gives him his instructions; the city editor must decide when the managing editor directs him in his work; the managing editor must decide when the owners announce to him their policy for the paper. Then it is that every newspaper worker is brought face to face with the problems of present-day newspaper making. Then it is that these problems cease to be general questions for discussion and become a personal matter that each newspaper worker must decide for himself. When it becomes a personal question to him, its solution does not always seem so easy as when it is a general problem, because to disobey the orders of his superiors usually means to lose his position.

This question, however, is not peculiar to the newspaper profession. The problem is not unlike that which confronts men engaged in every kind of business or professional work. Every business man, every lawyer, every physician finds himself called upon again and again to settle for himself the same ethical question. Competition in business not infrequently leads to questionable practices for getting the better of business rivals, employees, or customers; and it is repeatedly necessary for men in positions of all grades to determine[Pg 358] whether or not they will carry out their employers’ policies when these do not agree with their own standards of right and wrong. Lawyers and physicians in their struggle to build up a practice are tempted to resort to methods condemned as unethical by the standards of their profession, or in the offices of established practitioners they find practices in use which do not harmonize with their own ethical ideals. In the older professions of law and medicine the members have directly or indirectly regulated the conditions of admission to practice, and have established codes of professional ethics. Such regulation, reinforced by government legislation, has tended to maintain better professional and ethical standards than would be possible without it.

Journalism, among the last of the callings to be generally recognized as a profession, has established neither standards of admission nor a formulated code of ethics. Only recently has the need of professional college courses in preparation for journalism been recognized by the public and by newspapers themselves. With the quickening of the public conscience in regard to political and social conditions has come a keener appreciation of the importance of the newspaper as the greatest single source of information in our democracy, and a realization of the dangers of abuse of this power by editors and publishers. Whatever opinions may be held as to present-day standards in journalism, every one will grant that it is the duty of those who enjoy the advantages of university training in preparation for this profession to maintain the highest ideals in their own work. Opportunity to know the truth carries with it responsibility for making the truth prevail. Noblesse oblige is as true of the privilege of knowledge as it ever was of the privilege of rank.

[Pg 359]

SUGGESTIONS

1. Remember that whatever you write is read by thousands.
2. Don’t forget that your story or headline helps to influence public opinion.
3. Realize that every mistake you make hurts someone.
4. Don’t embroider facts with fancy; “truth is stranger than fiction.”
5. Don’t try to make cleverness a substitute for truth.
6. Remember that faking is lying.
7. Refer all requests to “keep it out of the paper” to those higher in authority.
8. Stand firmly for what your conscience tells you is right.
9. Sacrifice your position, if need be, rather than your principles.
10. See the bright side of life; don’t be pessimistic or cynical.
11. Seek to know the truth and endeavor to make the truth prevail.

• Abbreviations in copy, 226.
• Abbreviations in headlines, 288.
• Accidents, news stories of, 101, 109.
• Accuracy in news, limitations to, 341.
• Accuracy in news, necessity for, 51, 341.
• Ad alley, 328.
• Addresses, reporting, 46.
• Adds in copy, 61, 260.
• Advance copy of speeches, etc., 47, 58.
• Advance stories, release of, 48, 57.
• Advertisements, position for, 8.
• Advertisers, suppression of news by, 344.
• Advertising, growth of, 334.
• Advertising, influence of, on news, 343.
• Advertising of news in headlines, 271.
• Advertising, questionable, 350.
• Advertising manager, 3.
• Advertising space, how measured, 265.
• Agate line measure for advertisements, 265.
• Animal stories, 218.
• Art department, 14.
• Articles, beginning news stories with, 75.
• Assignment book, or sheet, 33, 36.
• Assignments, reporters’, 32, 36.
• Associated Press, 56.
• Associated Press, news bulletin of, 12.
• Autoplate stereotyping machine, 9, 10.
• Bank in composing room, 328.
• Bankmen, 328.
• Banks in headlines, 274.
• Banner heads, 305.
• Banquets, reporting, 174.
• Baseball games, news stories of, 167.
• Beat in publishing news, 31, 51.
• Beat, or news run, 31.
• Beginnings for news stories, 69, 103, 110, 128, 144.
• Beginnings to be avoided, 74.
• Body of news story, 88, 132.
• Body type, 264.
• Boiling down news, 205.
• Bold-face type, 264.
• Boston Transcript, story from, 184.
• Boxed facts in news stories, 86.
• Bulletins, news, 34, 57, 261.
• Bulletins, news, double leaded, 265.
• Bureaus, city news, 32.
• Burglaries, news stories of, 110.
• Business element in newspaper publishing, growth of, 332.
• Business management of newspapers, 2.
• Cable editor, 12.
• Camera, reporter’s use of, 49.
• Capital necessary in newspaper publishing, 333.
• Cases, type, 264.
• Cashier, 3.
• Casting box, stereotyping, 9.
• Catch-lines in copy, 259, 260.
• Chase, 8.
• Chicago Tribune, stories from, 82, 83, 214.
• Children, news value of, 23.
• Children in human interest stories, 213.
• Christmas celebrations, 174, 181.
• City editors, 5, 32.
• City news bureaus, 32.
• Collier’s Weekly, definitions of news in, 17.
• Colored headlines, 273.
• Colored news, 343.
• Column rules, 8.
• Column, width of, 265.
• Comics, printing of, 11.
• Composing room, 3.
• Composing room terms, 328.
• Composing stick, 265.
• Compositors, 3.
• Conventions, reporting, 136.
• Copy, 5.
• Copy, common errors in, 257.
• Copy, essentials of good, 60.
• Copy-cutter, 3, 7, 14.
• Copy-desk, 5, 13, 258.
• Copy-reader, how he works, 258.
• Copy-reader, qualifications of, 255.
• Copy-reading, 255.
• Copy-reading, example of, 267.
• Copy-reading, marks used in, 266.
• Correspondent, duties of, 54.
• Correspondent, instructions to, 57.
• Courts as news sources, 30.
• Courts, news stories of, 144.
• Crime, news stories of, 110.
• [Pg 362]Crime stories, leads for, 112.
• Criminal court news, 30.
• Cross-line heads, 276.
• Cuts, 5, 338.
• Decisions, news stories of, 150.
• Decks in headlines, 274.
• Defalcations, news stories of, 110.
• Department store advertising, 334.
• Dispatches, filing of, 57.
• Display type, 264.
• Drop-line heads, 274, 275.
• Editing copy, 255, 266.
• Editor, city, 5, 32.
• Editor, managing, 5.
• Editor, telegraph, 5.
• Editorial policy, 4.
• Editorials, purpose of, 4.
• Editorial writers, 4.
• Editor-in-chief, 4.
• Editors, news, 5.
• Em as type measure, 265.
• Embezzlements, news stories of, 110.
• End mark in copy, 61, 260.
• Engagements, announcements of, 170.
• Ethics of journalism, 339, 357.
• Exchange editor, 5.
• Exchanges, news rewritten from, 206.
• Extraordinary events, news value of, 19.
• Faces of type, 264.
• Fakes, effects of, 354.
• Faking news, 353.
• Feature articles, style in, 229.
• Feature articles, subjects for, 225.
• Feature stories, 211.
• Features for crime stories, 110.
• Features for fire stories, 103.
• Features for rewrite stories, 196.
• Features, playing up the, 67.
• Figures at beginning of sentence, 75.
• Figures in headlines, 290.
• Filing news despatches, 57.
• Filing queries and schedules, 54.
• Fillers, 206.
• Fire losses, boxed, 86.
• Fires, stories of, 101, 106.
• Flash, or news bulletin, 35, 261.
• Flimsy, guide lines on, 261.
• Following up the news, 43, 194.
• Follows in copy, 260.
• Follow up stories, 194, 201.
• Fonts of type, 264.
• Football games, stories of, 162.
• Forms, page, 8, 329.
• Free lance writers, 224.
• Fudge printing device, 11.
• Function of newspaper, 331.
• Future books, editors’, 32.
• Gaynor, Mayor, news of shooting of, 34.
• Government publications, news stories from, 154.
• Government publications, special articles from, 225.
• Grammatical errors in copy, 257.
• Graveyard, obituaries in, 183.
• Guide-lines in copy, 259, 261.
• Hanging indention in heads, 274, 277.
• Headlines, abbreviations in, 288.
• Headlines and yellow journalism, 272.
• Headlines as advertisements of news, 271.
• Headlines, figures in, 290.
• Headlines, forms of, 274, 277.
• Headlines, function of, 271.
• Headlines, impartial and colored, 273.
• Headlines, methods of building, 294.
• Headlines, punctuation in, 292.
• Headlines, style in, 287.
• Headlines, tone of, 282.
• Headlines, type limits of, 279.
• Heads, banner, 305.
• Heads, jump-, 304.
• Heads, side-, 126.
• Heads, sub-, 302.
• Hearings, reporting, 145.
• Hell-box, 329.
• Holidays, stories of celebrations of, 174.
• Home edition, 327.
• Hotels as news source, 30.
• Human interest, news value of, 22.
• Human interest stories, 211, 212, 213.
• Humorous feature stories, 213.
• Illustrations, increase in, 338.
• Inaccuracy in news, dangers of, 355.
• Independent, articles from the, 12, 34.
• Inserts in copy, 61, 260.
• Instructions to correspondents, 57.
• International News Service, 56.
• Interviewing, 44.
• Interviews by telephone, 48.
• Interviews, form of, 139.
• Interviews, groups of, 140.
• Interviews in feature articles, 240, 243.
• Investigations, news stories of, 145.
• Items, news, 206.
• Jump-heads, 304.
• [Pg 363]Justifying forms, 329.
• Labor editor, 5.
• Leaded type, 265.
• Leads between lines of type, 265.
• Leads, or beginnings, 66.
• Leads, explanatory details in, 75.
• Leads for crime stories, 110.
• Leads for fire stories, 103.
• Leads for rewrite stories, 196.
• Leads for speeches, etc., 128.
• Leads for trials, 144.
• Leads, how to begin, 69.
• Leads, leaded, 265.
• Leads, unconventional, 75.
• Lectures, reporting, 126.
• Legal proceedings, reporting, 152.
• Librarian, 5.
• Linotype machine, 3, 10.
• Linotype slugs, 10, 11, 329.
• Lists of dead and injured, boxed, 88.
• Local ends of news, 6, 25, 195.
• Local news, value of, 24.
• Locking page forms, 329.
• Long-hand copy, 60.
• Long-hand reporting, 46.
• Lower case letters in type, 265.
• Magazine articles, news stories from, 154.
• Magazine articles, style in, 229.
• Magazine articles, subjects for, 225.
• Magazine section, editor of, 5.
• Magazine section, printing of, 11.
• Magazine section, stories for, 223.
• Mail editions, 327.
• Mailing machine for newspapers, 11.
• Mailing newspapers, 9.
• Make-up of newspapers, 8, 322.
• Make-up, contrast in, 323.
• Make-up, front page, 322, 325.
• Make-up, importance of, 322.
• Make-up, positions of prominence in, 324.
• Make-up schedule, 327.
• Make-up, symmetry in, 324.
• Make-up, types of, 322.
• Making-up different editions, 327.
• Managing editor, 5.
• Marine editor, 5.
• Market edition, 327.
• Market editor, 5.
• Market reports, 26.
• Mat, stereotyping, 9.
• Matrix, stereotyping, 9.
• Measurement of type, 263.
• Meetings, reporting, 136.
• Monotype machine, 3, 10.
• Morgue, newspaper, 5, 6, 183.
• Murders, news stories of, 110.
• Names, accuracy in printing, 51.
• News, accuracy and completeness of, 341.
• News, adulterated, 349.
• News associations, 56.
• News, boiling down, 205.
• News bureaus, city, 32.
• News, coloring of, 346, 349.
• News, covering big, 33.
• News, defined by editors, 17.
• News, definition of, 18.
• News editor, 5.
• News, effects of adulterated, 349.
• News, essentials of, 18.
• News, following up the, 43, 194.
• News gathering, 29, 34, 36.
• News, getting it into print, 6, 12.
• News, grouping of, in make-up, 325.
• News items, 206.
• News, nose for, 50.
• News policy, sinister influences on, 343.
• News policy determined by editors, 356.
• News runs, 31.
• News sources, 30.
• News staff, 5.
• News, suppression of, 53, 343, 352.
• News, timeliness in, 19.
• News values, 18.
• New York Evening Post, stories from, 181, 232, 238.
• New York Herald, establishment of, 332.
• New York Sun, stories from, 78, 80, 174, 187, 215, 218, 236, 240.
• New York Times, story from, 244.
• New York Tribune, establishment of, 332.
• New York Tribune, stories from, 178, 216, 230.
• Night city editor, 5.
• Night editor, 5.
• Night press rate, telegraph, 57.
• Noon edition, 327.
• Nose for news, 50.
• Note book in reporting, 52.
• Note taking, 46.
• Obituaries, 183.
• Organization of a newspaper, 2.
• Ownership of newspapers, 333.
• Ownership of newspapers, influence of, on policy, 343, 347.
• Paragraph length in news stories, 64.
• Paragraph marks in copy, 61, 266.
• Pathetic feature stories, 222.
• Pathetic feature stories, style in, 213.
• [Pg 364]Personality sketch, 228.
• Personal journalism, decline of, 335.
• Photographer, staff, 49.
• Photographs for newspaper cuts, 49.
• Pi, type, 9.
• Pica as type measure, 265.
• Pied type, 9.
• Pittsburgh Gazette-Times, story from, 222.
• Planer, 329.
• Planing down forms, 329.
• Plate, stereotyping, 9.
• Platform, political, boxed, 87.
• Point system of measuring type, 263.
• Police headquarters as news source, 30.
• Police news stories, 110.
• Political subjects for feature stories, 228.
• Politics, news value of, 22.
• Position of advertisements, 8.
• Practice work, 94, 116, 156, 191, 208, 249, 306.
• Press associations, 56.
• Presses, newspaper, 10.
• Press, proof, 7.
• Press room, 3.
• Printing newspapers, process of, 9.
• Printing presses, newspaper, 10.
• Proof correcting, 315.
• Proof, example of corrected, 319.
• Proof, galley, 7, 315.
• Proof, marks for correcting, 316.
• Proof, revised, 8.
• Proof-reading, 3, 315.
• Proof-room, 315.
• Punctuation, common errors in, 257.
• Pyramid banks in headlines, 274, 276.
• Queries, schedule of, 55.
• Query, correspondent’s, 54.
• Questions at beginning of lead, 82.
• Quoins, 9, 329.
• Quotation marks in copy, 60, 266.
• Quotations in lead of news stories, 128.
• Quotations, misleading, playing up, 128.
• Quotations, verbatim in news stories, 126.
• Railroad editor, 5.
• Real estate editor, 5.
• Receptions, stories of, 169.
• Release date on advance stories, 48, 57.
• Reporter, ethical problems of, 352, 357.
• Reporter, how he gets news, 36.
• Reporter, qualifications of, 50.
• Reporter, suppression of news by, 53, 352.
• Revises, proof, 8.
• Rewrite man, 5, 194.
• Rewrite stories, 194.
• Robberies, news stories of, 110.
• Rules, column, 8.
• Running stories, 46.
• Runs, reporters’, 31.
• Schedule, make-up, 327.
• Schedule of queries, 55.
• Science, popularizing in special articles, 227.
• Scoop in publishing news, 31, 51.
• Second day stories, 43, 201.
• Sentence length in news stories, 64.
• Sermons, reporting, 126.
• Ship news reporters, 30.
• Short-hand reporting, 46.
• Side heads on news items, 126.
• Slang in headlines, 290.
• Slang in sporting news, 169.
• Slug, compositor’s, 328.
• Slug, linotype, 10, 11.
• Slugging a story, 259.
• Society editor, 5, 169.
• Society news, 169.
• Special articles, 211, 223.
• Special articles, style in, 229.
• Special articles, subjects for, 225.
• Special feature stories, 211, 223.
• Speeches, boxed excerpts from, 87.
• Speeches, news stories of, 126.
• Speeches, reporting, 46, 126.
• Speeches, reporting series of, 136.
• Sporting editor, 5.
• Sporting extra, 11, 327.
• Sporting news stories, form of, 161.
• Sporting news stories, style of, 169.
• Sports, news value of, 22.
• State exchanges, news rewritten from, 206.
• Statistics at beginning of special articles, 229.
• Stereotyped plates, 9, 10.
• Stereotyping, 9, 10.
• Stereotyping room, 3.
• Stick, composing, 265.
• Stickful as measure of copy, 265.
• Stock company ownership of newspapers, 333.
• Stock exchanges, news of, 31.
• Stoddart, Alex. McD., articles by, 12, 34.
• Stone, composing, 329.
• Stories, human interest, 211.
• Stories, news, body of, 88.
• Stories, news, handling big, 12.
• Stories, news, leads for, 66, 69, 75, 110, 128.
• [Pg 365]Stories, news, style in, 61.
• Stories, special feature, 211, 223.
• String, correspondent’s, 55.
• Style book, newspaper, 258.
• Style, newspaper, essentials of, 61.
• Style in headlines, 287.
• Style in human interest stories, 213.
• Style in special articles, 229.
• Style, typographical, 63.
• Subheads, 302.
• Suggestions, 16, 28, 58, 93, 115, 155, 192, 207, 248, 269, 305, 321, 329, 359.
• Suicides, news stories of, 110.
• Summaries boxed in news stories, 86.
• Sunday editor, 5.
• Sunday magazine articles, 223.
• Sunday newspapers, growth of, 338.
• Suppression of news, 53, 343, 352.
• Takes of copy, 7, 14, 328.
• Technical subjects for special articles, 227.
• Telegraph copy, guide lines on, 261.
• Telegraph editor, 5.
• Telegraph news, filing of, 57.
• Telegraph news, form of, 12, 261.
• Telephone, assignments by, 48.
• Telephone directory, value of, 51.
• Telephone, getting news by, 48.
• Testimony, forms of, 147.
• Timeliness in news, 19.
• Titanic disaster, news of, 12, 32.
• Trials, news stories of, 144.
• Trials, reporting, 47.
• Type cases, 264.
• Type cast on monotype, 10, 329.
• Type, distributing, 329.
• Type-high cuts, 266.
• Type, leaded and solid, 265.
• Type, measurement of, 263, 265.
• Type, names of, 263, 264.
• Type, off its feet, 329.
• Type, set by hand, 265.
• Type, sizes and kinds, 263.
• Unexpected occurrences, news stories of, 101.
• United Press, 56.
• United Press, news stories from, 261.
• Unusual, news value of the, 19.
• Uplift run, 31.
• Upper case letters in type, 265.
• Utterances, news stories of, 126.
• Want ad at beginning of news story, 85.
• Weddings, stories of, 169.
• Whitlock, Brand, article by, 245.
• Witnesses, news stories of testimony by, 147.
• Woman’s clubs, news of, 173.
• Women as newspaper readers, 338.
• Yellow journalism and big headlines, 272.
• Yellow journalism, criticisms of, 344, 348.
• Yellow journalism, advent of, in New York, 336.
• Yellow journalism and foreign population in cities, 337.
• Zoo, animal stories from, 23, 218.

EXPOSITORY WRITING

By Mervin J. Curl.

Gives freshmen and sophomores something to write about, and helps them in their writing.

SENTENCES AND THINKING

By Norman Foerster, University of North Carolina, and J. M. Stedman, Jr., Emory University.

A practice book in sentence-making for college freshmen.

A HANDBOOK OF ORAL READING

By Lee Emerson Bassett, Leland Stanford Junior University.

Especial emphasis is placed on the relation of thought and speech, technical vocal exercises being subordinated to a study of the principles underlying the expression of ideas. Illustrative selections of both poetry and prose are freely employed.

ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATING (Revised Edition)

By William T. Foster, Reed College.

The point of view throughout is that of the student rather than that of the teacher.

THE RHETORICAL PRINCIPLES OF NARRATION

By Carroll Lewis Maxcy, Williams College.

A clear and thorough analysis of the three elements of narrative writing, viz.: setting, character, and plot.

REPRESENTATIVE NARRATIVES

Edited by Carroll Lewis Maxcy.

This compilation contains twenty-two complete selections of various types of narrative composition.

THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF WRITING ENGLISH

By Gerhard R. Lomer, Ph.D., and Margaret Ashmun.

A textbook for use in college Freshman courses.

HOW TO WRITE SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLES

By Willard G. Bleyer, University of Wisconsin.

A textbook for classes in Journalism and in advanced English Composition.

NEWSPAPER WRITING AND EDITING

By Willard G. Bleyer.

This fully meets the requirements of courses in Journalism as given in our colleges and universities, and at the same time appeals to practical newspaper men.

TYPES OF NEWS WRITING

By Willard G. Bleyer.

Over two hundred typical stories taken from representative American newspapers are here presented in a form convenient for college classes in Journalism.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Edited by ADA L. F. SNELL

Associate Professor of English, Mount Holyoke College

The purpose of the Riverside Essays is to present to students of English composition essays by modern authors which deal in a fresh way with such subjects as politics, science, literature, and nature. The close study of vigorous and artistic writing is generally acknowledged to be the best method of gaining a mastery of the technique of composition.

In the Riverside Essays the material consists of essays which, with few exceptions, have been printed entire. Other advantages of the Riverside Essays for both instructor and student lie in the fact that the material is presented in separate volumes, each of which is devoted to a single author and contains two or more representative essays.

Finally, the series has none of the earmarks of the ordinary textbook which the student passes on, marked and battered, to the next college generation. The books are attractively printed, and bound in the Library Binding of the Riverside Literature Series. The student will therefore be glad to keep these books for his own library.

PROMOTING GOOD CITIZENSHIP

By James Bryce. With an Introduction. Riverside Literature Series, No. 227, Library Binding.

STUDIES IN NATURE AND LITERATURE

By John Burroughs. Riverside Literature Series, No. 226, Library Binding.

UNIVERSITY SUBJECTS

By John Henry Newman. Riverside Literature Series, No. 225, Library Binding.

THE AMERICAN MIND AND AMERICAN IDEALISM

By Bliss Perry. With an Introduction. Riverside Literature Series, No. 224, Library Binding.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

DRAMATIC TECHNIQUE

By George Pierce Baker, Harvard University.

THE TUDOR DRAMA

By C. F. Tucker Brooke, Yale University.

An illuminating history of the development of English Drama during the Tudor Period, from 1485 to the close of the reign of Elizabeth.

CHIEF CONTEMPORARY DRAMATISTS, First Series

Edited by Thomas H. Dickinson, formerly of the University of Wisconsin.

CHIEF CONTEMPORARY DRAMATISTS. Second Series

Edited by Thomas H. Dickinson.

This book supplements the First Series by making available in a companion volume plays which represent the later tendencies in the drama of Europe and America.

CHIEF EUROPEAN DRAMATISTS

Edited by Brander Matthews, Columbia University, Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

This volume contains one typical play from each of the master dramatists of Europe, with the exception of the English writers.

A STUDY OF THE DRAMA

By Brander Matthews.

Devoted mainly to an examination of the structural framework which the great dramatists of various epochs have given to their plays; it discusses only incidentally the psychology, the philosophy, and the poetry of these pieces.

THE CHIEF ELIZABETHAN DRAMATISTS

Edited by W. A. Neilson, President of Smith College, formerly Professor of English Literature in Harvard University.

This volume presents typical examples of the work of the most important of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, so that, taken with Shakespeare’s own works, it affords a view of the development of the English drama through its most brilliant period.

A HISTORY OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA

By Felix E. Schelling, University of Pennsylvania. 2 vols.

SHAKESPEAREAN PLAYHOUSES

By Joseph Quincy Adams, Cornell University.

A History of English Theatres from the Beginnings to the Restoration. Fully illustrated.

SHAKESPEARE QUESTIONS

By Odell Shepard, Trinity College. Riv. Lit. Series. No. 246.

An outline for the study of the leading plays.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

BY

DURANT DRAKE

Professor of Philosophy, Vassar College

An Introductory Survey of Ethics

THE Boston Transcript says: “It is the great merit of Professor Drake’s book that it moves always in a concrete sphere of life as we daily live it. It never moralizes, it never lays down obiter dicta, it simply talks over with us our personal problems precisely as a keen, experienced, and always sympathetic friend might do. Through and through scientific and scholarly, it is never academic in method and matter.”

PROBLEMS OF RELIGION

BY

DURANT DRAKE

THIS book, like Professor Drake’s Problems of Conduct, represents a course of lectures given for several years to undergraduates of Wesleyan University. Their aim is to give a rapid survey of the field, such that the man who is confused by the chaos of opinions on these matters, and himself but little able to judge between conflicting statements, may here get his bearings and see his way to stable belief and energetic action.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Robert Browning’s Complete Poetical and Dramatic Works.

Burns’s Complete Poetical Works.

Byron’s Complete Poetical Works.

Dryden’s Complete Poetical Works.

English and Scottish Ballads.

Keats’s Complete Poetical Works and Letters.

Longfellow’s Complete Poetical Works.

Milton’s Complete Poetical Works.

Pope’s Complete Poetical Works.

Shakespeare’s Complete Works.

Shelley’s Complete Poetical Works.

Spenser’s Complete Poetical Works.

Tennyson’s Poetic and Dramatic Works.

Whittier’s Complete Poetical Works.

Wordsworth’s Complete Poetical Works.

ANTHOLOGIES: POETRY AND DRAMA

The Chief Middle English Poets. Translated and Edited by Jessie L. Weston.

The Chief British Poets of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Edited by W. A. Neilson and K. G. T. Webster.

The Leading English Poets from Chaucer to Browning. Edited by L. H. Holt.

A Victorian Anthology. Edited by Edmund Clarence Stedman.

The Chief American Poets. Edited by C. H. Page.

An American Anthology. Edited by Edmund Clarence Stedman.

Little Book of Modern Verse. Edited by Jessie B. Rittenhouse. R.L.S. No. 254.

Second Book of Modern Verse. Edited by Jessie B. Rittenhouse. R.L.S. No. 267.

Little Book of American Poets. Edited by Jessie B. Rittenhouse. R.L.S. No. 255.

High Tide. Edited by Mrs. Waldo Richards. R.L.S. No. 256.

A Treasury of War Poetry. Edited by George H. Clarke. R.L.S. No. 262.

The Chief Elizabethan Dramatists. Edited by W. A. Neilson.

Chief European Dramatists. In Translation. Edited by Brander Matthews.

Chief Contemporary Dramatists, First Series. Edited by Thomas H. Dickinson.

Chief Contemporary Dramatists, Second Series. Edited by Thomas H. Dickinson.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

LIBRARY BINDING

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Piers the Ploughman. Webster and Neilson.

Chaucer’s The Prologue, The Knight’s Tale, and The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Mather.

Ralph Roister Doister. Child.

The Second Shepherds’ Play, Everyman, and Other Early Plays. Child.

Bacon’s Essays. Northup.

Shakespeare Questions. Shepard.

Milton’s Of Education, Areopagitica, The Commonwealth. Lockwood.

Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Jensen.

Goldsmith’s The Good-Natured Man, and She Stoops to Conquer. Dickinson.

Sheridan’s The School for Scandal. Webster.

Shelley’s Poems. (Selected.) Clarke.

Huxley’s Autobiography, and Selected Essays. Snell.

Selections from the Prose Works of Matthew Arnold. Johnson.

Selected Literary Essays from James Russell Lowell. Howe and Foerster.

Howells’s A Modern Instance.

Briggs’s College Life.

Briggs’s To College Girls.

Perry’s The American Mind and American Idealism.

Burroughs’s Studies in Nature and Literature.

Newman’s University Subjects.

Bryce’s Promoting Good Citizenship.

Eliot’s The Training for an Effective Life.

English and American Sonnets. Lockwood.

The Little Book of American Poets. Rittenhouse.

The Little Book of Modern Verse. Rittenhouse.

High Tide. An Anthology of Contemporary Poems. Richards.

Minimum College Requirements in English for Study.

The Second Book of Modern Verse. Rittenhouse.

Abraham Lincoln. A Play. Drinkwater.